Artificial intelligence (AI) will be truly transformative for the job market and global productivity, cautioned Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft and current owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. In a recent interview, Ballmer sounded the alarm on the massive economic disruption that AI-powered automation could unleash.
“I think it will change the world tremendously in terms of people’s productivity and there will be a remapping of jobs, I think, and wage structure from some industries to others,” Ballmer stated. He pointed to the productivity gains his firm USAFacts has seen by leveraging AI to compile government data as a prime example.
However, Ballmer expects certain manual labor jobs to be more insulated from AI displacement at first.
“It may be surprising, in the sense that there may be an increased value of things that people do with their hands physically, like building a building. We’re building a new arena. I think those jobs are more likely to stay around for quite a while,” he said.
The real winners and losers will be determined by “who uses the technology best in their applications, and who drives the technology best into its deep infrastructure?” According to Ballmer: “I happen to think Microsoft is very well positioned, but there are other companies.”
As for the revenue model, Ballmer admitted “I’m not sure how this business model unfolds” for big tech companies looking to monetize generative AI like Apple’s new Siri assistant. “Maybe less well than in the past,” he speculated on future monetization opportunities.
While highly bullish on AI’s potential, Ballmer urged careful implementation to mitigate societal risks, saying “It needs to be done carefully.” The former tech titan clearly believes the AI revolution is coming — and massive economic realignment will be unavoidable.
Featured image: Credit: CNBC
