Impact on labor markets (rising inequalities)
AI is more likely to displace workers when it is designed to replicate human skills and intelligence.597 In such cases, there is a risk of concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few individuals or organizations that control the capital. In addition, ordinary people, including those with significant expertise, may become less valued because machines would be performing their roles. This shift could lower wages, reduce the value of human work, and exacerbate economic inequality.
ENTITY
2 - AI
INTENT
2 - Unintentional
TIMING
3 - Other
Risk ID
mit752
Domain lineage
6. Socioeconomic and Environmental
6.3 > Economic and cultural devaluation of human effort
Mitigation strategy
1. **Redesign fiscal policy to incentivize human capital investment and redistribute capital gains.** Enact tax parity by granting full and immediate expensing for job-related training, similar to physical equipment, and implement novel tax frameworks that either shift the burden from labor to digital capital or require AI firms to remit equity shares to the public to ensure shared ownership of technological profits. 2. **Develop and scale national workforce upskilling and reskilling strategies.** Establish dedicated public funding, such as an AI Worker Training Fund, and corporate incentives to cultivate human-AI complementary skills (e.g., critical thinking, domain expertise) to prepare workers for 'retooled' and 'frontier' occupations, thereby increasing productivity and mitigating displacement risk. 3. **Fortify the social contract and enhance worker adaptive capacity against displacement shocks.** Implement structural reforms, including exploring a universal basic income (UBI) as a foundational financial safety net, alongside measures to increase benefit portability and reduce regulatory barriers, such as loosening job licensing requirements, to facilitate rapid and equitable transitions for high-vulnerability workers.