Regarding the potential of artificial intelligence to replace the labor market, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang believes that American workers do not need to panic. Speaking to MSNBC host Becky Quick at an event hosted by the Milken Institute, an economic policy think tank, on Monday night, the energetic Nvidia CEO said that artificial intelligence is a massive job creator, not a harbinger of massive unemployment as so-called "AI doomsdayers" often accuse it.
The conversation touched on a number of different topics, but a core recurring theme was the continuing economic anxiety surrounding the AI industry and whether Americans should really be worried about it. Quick pointed out during the conversation: "With all this happening so quickly, will it lead to greater chaos than before and thus exacerbate inequality? What should we do about this?"
Huang Jensen remained optimistic throughout the night. "AI creates jobs," Huang asserted during the discussion, adding that "AI is America's best opportunity to reindustrialize." Huang Renxun pointed out that the artificial intelligence industry relies on a new generation of industrial factories - those that produce hardware, which is the key infrastructure for the AI business. It’s worth noting that Huang’s company is the main seller of these hardware. These factories will inevitably need workers, as will other areas of the booming AI industry.
Just because a specific task is automated, Huang reasoned, doesn't mean a person's entire job will be replaced. He said those who believe this "misunderstand that the purpose of work and the tasks of work are related" but ultimately not the same. In other words, Huang's argument is that even if AI takes over a single task within a role, the broader functions that employee serves in the organization will likely remain.
Relatedly, Huang criticized those who claim that AI will dominate humanity or destroy large swathes of the economy. “My biggest concern is that we scare people — all the people we tell these science fiction stories to them — that AI becomes so unpopular in the United States, or that people are so afraid of it that they don’t actually use it,” he said.
Ironically, much of the “doomsday” rhetoric is actually generated by the AI industry itself, with critics insisting that such exaggerations are used as marketing gimmicks to create buzz and excitement for products that fall far short of the capabilities such rhetoric implies.
What long-term impact artificial intelligence will have on the overall economy remains to be seen. Nonetheless, research from authoritative financial and academic institutions shows that as many as 15% of jobs in the United States may be eliminated in the next few years due to the impact of artificial intelligence.