An unprecedented joint statement signed by more than 200 economists and researchers, including 16 Nobel laureates, warns that artificial intelligence could reshape the economy at a speed and scale exceeding the Industrial Revolution. According to The New York Times, the statement, titled 'We Must Act Now', represents a notable shift among economists who once greeted such warnings with skepticism. The document warns that AI 'could bring risks, including large-scale job displacement, as well as opportunities such as major gains in living standards', marking a significant departure from the economics profession's previous skepticism about swift AI-driven displacement. The letter was released on Monday and organised by Stanford University's digital economy lab, with signatories including executives and researchers from major AI companies including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. As reported by The New York Times, Anton Korinek, a University of Virginia professor who organised the initiative, stressed that 'We cannot improvise our strategy and institutions in the middle of the transformation; waiting for certainty means arriving too late.'
The signatories warn that AI could become 'radically more powerful' over the next decade and drive an economic transformation larger than the Industrial Revolution, but compressed into a much shorter period. As reported by The New York Times, Anton Korinek framed the urgency in historical terms: 'Steam, electricity, and computers each gave societies decades to adapt; AI may give us only a few years.' The statement emphasizes that AI could reshape the economy faster than any previous technology, with Erik Brynjolfsson of Stanford noting there has been 'a notable change in the profession' among economists who previously argued that AI's impact would unfold gradually. The warning comes as economists and business leaders continue to debate how quickly AI could reshape the labor market, with Google AI lead Jeff Dean, Anthropic cofounder Jack Clark, and OpenAI finance boss Sarah Friar among the technology executives who signed the letter.
The letter represents a notable change in economists' perspective, as many had previously argued that AI's impact on employment would unfold gradually, similar to earlier technological revolutions. According to The New York Times, Erik Brynjolfsson told the publication that economists and policymakers were still underestimating how disruptive AI could become. The economics profession has long pushed back on warnings of swift AI-driven displacement, with most researchers arguing that the timeline for technological disruption is routinely overstated. Daron Acemoglu, an MIT professor and 2024 Nobel economics laureate who participated in the effort, warned that if AI affects office work the way industrial robots transformed manufacturing, but over a much shorter timeframe, the consequences could be highly disruptive for workers' livelihoods. The signatories include former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz, Daron Acemoglu, and Simon Johnson.
While many signatories continue to believe AI will eventually improve productivity and boost living standards, they caution that the transition could be particularly painful for white collar workers. As reported by The New York Times, Daron Acemoglu cautioned that 'If you look at what robots did in the manufacturing sector, if AI does something equivalent in a more compressed time period, that would be really disruptive, really costly for people's livelihoods.' The statement arrives as white-collar payrolls have contracted for dozens of consecutive months, a stretch that Aaron Terrazas, a former chief economist at Glassdoor, has called without precedent outside of a recession. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has predicted AI could eliminate up to half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years, while other prominent AI researchers argue the technology is more likely to transform jobs than replace them outright, boosting productivity by automating routine tasks while creating demand for new skills. Recent developments include Amazon announcing it was cutting about 14,000 jobs in October, months after its chief executive revealed that generative AI and agents would be taking over some roles.
The group calls on economists, policymakers and technology leaders to expand their understanding of how AI is reshaping the economy and develop guardrails ensuring the technology augments rather than displaces human workers. According to The New York Times, the statement does not include specific policy recommendations, but getting a clearer statistical picture of how AI is moving through the economy ranks among the most urgent tasks facing the field. Erik Brynjolfsson told the publication that 'I still see a big gap there, a big mismatch, and I'm kind of worried that we're not going to be ready for the tsunami that's coming.' The letter represents a shift from previous warnings largely coming from technology executives to a more comprehensive approach involving economists and policymakers. The concern extends beyond individual workers, as in December, the United Nations warned that AI could deepen inequality between nations, with wealthier economies reaping early gains, while poorer countries risk being left behind. Recent studies suggest AI is already changing hiring patterns, with research from Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and the University of Toronto finding that venture-backed startups are hiring fewer entry-level workers while recruiting more experienced employees, reflecting a shift toward smaller, AI-assisted teams.
