Comment by Michael S. Barr

My base case foresees labor market disruptions as relatively short term, even if painful. Over the long term, the labor market would adjust in ways that create new jobs and augment the productivity of existing jobs, boosting real wages.

Predictions about how generative AI will evolve, and in particular how it will affect the labor market, range from the utopian to the apocalyptic.

Society would have to rethink the social safety net to ensure that the gains from unprecedented economic growth are shared rather than concentrated among a small group of capital holders and AI superstars.