IMF's Gita Gopinath warns AI risks 'substantial disruptions' in jobs markets

IMF's Gita Gopinath warns AI risks 'substantial disruptions' in jobs markets

IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath has warned of "substantial disruptions in labour markets" stemming from generative artificial intelligence and called on policymakers to quickly craft rules to govern the technology, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

"We need governments, we need institutions and we need policymakers to move quickly on all fronts, in terms of regulation, but also in terms of preparing for probably substantial disruptions in labour markets," Gopinath said in an interview to FT.

She also advocated for governments to bolster "social safety nets" for workers affected by the adoption of AI, while working on tax policies that do not reward companies replacing employees with machines.

Gopinath cautioned policymakers to be careful in case some corporations emerge with an unassailable position in the new technology.

"You don't want to have supersized companies with huge amounts of data and computing power that have an unfair advantage," Gopinath told the newspaper.