Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein believes that society should brace for the impact of AI on the US labor market.
In an interview at Bloomberg Invest, Blankfein says that at the start of the 20th century, more than half of the country’s population worked in agriculture.
While many found jobs in other areas following multiple Industrial Revolutions, Blankfein notes that the transition is not always smooth.
“But it’s not without stresses and strains. Not everybody who’s a software programmer is going to become a Pilates teacher. And so there’ll be some stress and dislocation.”
Blankfein adds that AI is coming, whether people like it or not.
“It’s gonna happen. So, we could spend a lot of time mourning for it and regretting it, but it’s gonna happen: the idea that machines are going to do a lot of stuff that we do.”
Looking at the bright side of AI diffusion, the former Goldman Sachs executive says it is within the realm of possibility for the technology to shorten both workdays and workweeks.
“Once upon a time, there was a six-day work week. Even on Wall Street, people came in on Saturday. That’s when they did all the back office stuff.
Maybe we go to a three-day workweek. Once upon a time, it was a 10 -hour workday. Now it’s an eight-hour workday. Maybe it goes to five. Maybe everybody just works less and moans to high heaven that they have to work four hours that day.”
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