Labour Displacement
While virtual AI applications will likely displace certain types of human cognitive labor, EAI systems could significantly replace or displace physical human labor [90]. At a minimum, EAI will likely augment the type of work that humans perform [91, 92].
ENTITY
2 - AI
INTENT
2 - Unintentional
TIMING
2 - Post-deployment
Risk ID
mit1428
Domain lineage
6. Socioeconomic and Environmental
6.2 > Increased inequality and decline in employment quality
Mitigation strategy
1. Prioritize structural tax and fiscal reforms to achieve parity between human capital investment and physical capital expensing. - Action: Amend tax codes (e.g., IRC Section 168(k) and 162) to extend full and immediate expensing to all bona fide job-related training, thereby eliminating the systematic tax bias that currently favors investment in labor-saving equipment (automation/AI) over labor-augmenting worker training and upskilling programs.2. Establish and scale comprehensive, technologically-adaptive worker retraining and upskilling frameworks. - Action: Governments should finance and incentivize the creation of high-quality, continuous, and modular worker retraining accounts or programs that focus on developing transferable and uniquely human skills (e.g., critical thinking, collaboration) and ensure the accessibility of support services (e.g., childcare) to facilitate career transitions, particularly for workers with low adaptive capacity.3. Modernize social safety nets and employment regulations to ensure economic security and labor market fluidity for displaced workers. - Action: Implement policy measures such as portable health and retirement benefits, reduce occupational licensing barriers, and strengthen and extend income support mechanisms (e.g., modernized unemployment insurance or Trade Adjustment Assistance-like systems) to provide a sufficient financial bridge and time for high-quality reemployment and retraining.