Additional Coverage:
- Andrew Yang makes a ‘catastrophic’ prediction that could impact nearly 40 million workers (marketrealist.com)
Andrew Yang Sounds Alarm: AI Could Displace 40 Million US Workers Sooner Than You Think
Washington D.C. – As the debate rages between AI optimists and cautious observers, one prominent voice is issuing a stark warning about its immediate impact on the American workforce. Andrew Yang, the entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate, predicts that artificial intelligence could replace approximately 40 million jobs in the United States at an accelerated pace, a development he describes as “catastrophic” for numerous communities.
Yang, known for making automation a central theme of his 2020 presidential campaign, reiterated his concerns in a recent CNN interview. He recalled his 2018 prediction regarding self-driving cars and their potential to disrupt the livelihoods of millions of truck drivers, a scenario he once told The New York Times could “destabilize society.” Now, Yang emphasizes that this prediction is no longer theoretical, with self-driving vehicles already navigating our roads.
“44% of American jobs are either repetitive manual or repetitive cognitive and thus could be subject to AI and automation,” Yang stated. This observation aligns with a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study, which indicated that AI could already be capable of replacing around 12% of American jobs, a figure representing a staggering $1.2 trillion in wages.
The effects of AI are already becoming evident in the current job market. Major corporations including Amazon, Walmart, IBM, and HP have cited AI development in recent layoff announcements or planned workforce reductions.
While some experts, like computer science professor Roman Yampolskiy, have offered more extreme predictions of job displacement, Yang maintains a more tempered, though still concerning, outlook. He suggested that while the situation will “get bad,” he doesn’t foresee a 99% job eradication.
Instead, he stands by his 44% vulnerability benchmark, translating to 30 to 40 million jobs potentially eliminated by AI.
To combat this impending disruption, Yang continues to champion his signature policy proposal: a universal basic income (UBI) of $1,000 per month for every American adult. He argues that with the U.S. producing roughly $85,000 in GDP per person in 2024, a $12,000 annual “Freedom Dividend” is “modest and reasonable.”
Yang believes this guaranteed income would provide a crucial safety net for workers navigating the transition and help maintain economic stability. He suggests that funding for UBI could come from taxing the very firms driving AI’s exponential growth, referencing Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s idea of a “token tax” on AI companies.
However, Yang cautioned that UBI alone is not a panacea. He stressed the ongoing need for individuals to find purpose, structure, and a sense of community to truly thrive. “We could be doing much, much more for the millions of Americans who are going to be displaced,” Yang concluded, urging proactive measures to address the looming challenges of an AI-driven future.