The Coming AI Backlash: How the Anger Economy Will Supercharge Populism

[SS from essay by Beatrice Magistro, Assistant Professor of AI Governance at Northeastern University; Sophie Borwein, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia; R. Michael Alvarez, Flintridge Foundation Professor of Political and Computational Social Science and a Founding Co-Director of the Linde Center for Science, Society, and Policy at the California Institute of Technology; Bart Bonikowski, Associate Professor of Sociology and Politics at New York University; and Peter John Loewen, Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Government at Cornell University.]

The AI economic transformation has begun. In May, IBM declared that it had fired hundreds of employees and replaced them with artificial intelligence chatbots. Over the summer, Salesforce let go of large numbers of people thanks to AI; UPS, JPMorgan Chase, and Wendy’s are also slashing head counts as they automate more functions. College graduates are having a harder time finding entry-level jobs than they have in nearly a decade. And these trends are just the beginning. In survey after survey, corporations across the world say that they plan to use AI to transform their workforces.

Artificial intelligence will likely create new employment opportunities even as it disrupts existing ones, and economists disagree on whether the net effect will be job losses, job gains, or simply restructuring. But whatever the long-term consequences are, AI will soon become a major political issue. If there is significant disruption, officials will be confronted by workers furious about jobs lost to machines. Voters will make their frustrations known at the ballot box. Politicians will therefore have to come up with plans for protecting their constituents, and fast.