ARK Invest chief executive Cathie Wood says the global economy is entering a rare period of overlapping technological revolutions that could dramatically accelerate growth, even as early signs of disruption are already appearing in the labor market.
In a new Bloomberg interview, Wood says the current AI cycle is fundamentally different from past innovation waves because it is not driven by a single platform, but by several powerful technologies advancing at the same time.
“But today, instead of just one major platform evolving, we have five: so robotics, energy storage, AI, blockchain technology, and multi-omic sequencing in the life science space, which we believe is the most profound application of AI, healthcare.”
According to Wood, investments in the five technological innovations will be double the figure spent during the height of the railroad boom.
“This boom, if you look back at the railroad boom, the amount of investment that we saw back then was about 6% of GDP at its peak, 5% to 6%. The internet boom was more like the auto boom in the early 1900s. It was more in the 3% to 4% of GDP range. The five-platform innovation or boom is going to move to 12% of GDP. And we do believe also that productivity growth will accelerate to the 4% to 6% range and be sustained there.”
Wood says the sustained productivity gains could supercharge the economy by the end of the decade.
“Normally, we see a cyclical peak around there, and then it falls back. We think it will be sustained, and we think that by the end of this decade, real GDP growth could be averaging more than 7% per year.”
At the same time, Wood warns that the benefits of AI-led growth are not being evenly distributed, particularly among younger workers entering the job market.
“The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds has moved to 12%, a big increase. And what is that saying? That’s saying that entry-level jobs are not being created the way they used to be.”
She urges young people to take a two-pronged approach amid the labor market disruption.
“To those people, I say, you must have in your mind an idea for a new business, something that frustrates you, an unmet need. Well, now you can go to ChatGPT, you can go to Grok. And you can have an assistant help you build out that business. Just interview for jobs, but also think about new business ideas.”
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