Anthropic Program Probes ‘Good and Bad’ of AI Disruption

Anthropic has debuted a program to study artificial intelligence’s (AI) impact on the labor market.

The AI company’s Economic Futures Program, announced Friday (June 27) will also help come up with policy proposals to ready the world for this economic shift, TechCrunch reported.

“Everybody’s asking questions about what are the economic impacts [of AI], both positive and negative,” Sarah Heck, head of policy programs and partnerships at Anthropic, told TechCrunch. “It’s really important to root these conversations in evidence and not have predetermined outcomes or views on what’s going to [happen].”

The report noted that among the prominent figures to offer their views on the potential economic impact of AI is Dario Amodei, Anthropic’s chief executive.

Last month, he predicted AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and send unemployment to as high as 20% in the coming years.

Asked by TechCrunch if one of the goals of the program was to research ways to alleviate AI-related job loss, Heck was “cautious,” the report said, arguing that the disruptive shifts AI will bring could be “both good and bad.” 

“I think the key goal is to figure out what is actually happening,” she said. “If there is job loss, then we should convene a collective group of thinkers to talk about mitigation. If there will be huge GDP expansion, great. We should also convene policy makers to figure out what to do with that. I don’t think any of this will be a monolith.”

PYMNTS reported last month on new research that examined how how AI agents performed in a simulated work environment.

The findings? While AI agents can enhance the productivity of workers, “they’re not ready to replace real-world human jobs,” said co-author Boxuan Li in an interview with PYMNTS.

As that report noted, these results stand in contrast to the vast amounts being invested in AI agents by companies betting on the idea of smart automation.

“So much money is going to the agent area,” noted co-author Yufan Song in an interview with PYMNTS. Agents “can help speed up our productivity, but to replace humans, I think, still needs some time.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS Intelligence research has shown that 54% of workers are concerned that generative AI poses a “significant risk of widespread job displacement.” This worry was more common among workers who showed some familiarity with generative AI platforms at 57%, while just 41% of those unfamiliar with AI platforms expressed similar concerns.

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