Capabilities that enable substitution of humans
The progressive replacement of human roles by AI models and systems can lead to societal disruption.
ENTITY
2 - AI
INTENT
1 - Intentional
TIMING
2 - Post-deployment
Risk ID
mit1054
Domain lineage
6. Socioeconomic and Environmental
6.2 > Increased inequality and decline in employment quality
Mitigation strategy
1. Establish comprehensive, public-private-funded worker retraining and upskilling programs to foster digital and AI literacy, enabling the existing workforce to pivot toward occupations requiring unique human skills such as emotional intelligence, complex problem-solving, and critical thinking. 2. Mandate corporate AI governance frameworks that prioritize an "augmentation-first" deployment strategy for AI systems to enhance human productivity rather than outright replacement, thereby safeguarding employment quality and maintaining human oversight in critical processes. 3. Reform social safety nets and labor market regulations to increase worker resilience against systemic job churn, specifically by developing mechanisms for portable health and retirement benefits, and by reducing occupational licensing requirements to facilitate smoother, low-friction transitions between career paths.