Most Economists Say AI Won't Create More Jobs
Survey of 16 top economists finds AI will boost productivity but almost none expect net job gains.
A Wall Street Journal survey of 16 leading economists paints a complicated picture of AI's impact on the American workforce. The consensus: productivity gains are coming, but don't expect a hiring boom.
Only two of the 16 economists surveyed believe AI will actually create more jobs. The rest see a future where output climbs while headcounts stay flat — or shrink.
The near-term outlook is clear. AI will make workers more efficient. The harder question is what happens after that efficiency kicks in. Do companies hire more people because they're growing faster? Or do they realize they need fewer humans to hit the same targets?
The economists also weighed in on how the US economy, workers, and workplaces should prepare for the shift. The takeaway is blunt: productivity is not the same thing as employment.
