London Mayor Sadiq Khan: AI could become a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ for jobs

(Image credit: Getty Images / Cravetiger)

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan warns of job losses due to AI
Entry level jobs will be the first to fall, he notes
There are positives, Khan says, but they require responsible deployment

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has warned that Artificial Intelligence could “usher in a new era of mass unemployment”.

London is particularly vulnerable, he argues, because the city relies heavily on white-collar workers in finance and creative industries, especially given the high concentration of professional services like accounting, law, consulting, and marketing - all of which are at risk from AI advancement.

Junior and entry-level jobs will be the first to suffer, Khan pointed out in a speech to business leaders, arguing, “we have a moral, social, and economic duty to act”.

With this comes the launch of a London taskforce on AI in the future of work, offering free AI training for London residents, and looking to assess the potential harm to the employment landscape.

Khan describes a clear choice for business leaders to be responsible in their deployment of the tech: “Seize the potential of AI and use it as a superpower for positive transformation and creation or surrender to it and sit back and watch as it becomes a weapon of mass destruction of jobs.”

He admitted there are huge potential benefits to AI, toeing the party line amid UK government plans to ‘unleash AI’ in the public sector, explaining that “AI could enable us to transform our public services, turbocharge productivity, and tackle some of our most complex challenges”.

Over half of Londoners expect their job to change in the next year thanks to AI, with the Bank of England governor warning AI is likely to replace jobs as well as a ‘sharp market correction’ when the AI bubble bursts, which could cause particular financial difficulties should unemployment rise in the meantime.

It should be noted that the Labour Government has laid out plans to push AI into all corners of British industry with multi-billion pound investments, and has confirmed huge infrastructure projects to support the tech.

Via: The Guardian

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Ellen has been writing for almost four years, with a focus on post-COVID policy whilst studying for BA Politics and International Relations at the University of Cardiff, followed by an MA in Political Communication. Before joining TechRadar Pro as a Junior Writer, she worked for Future Publishing’s MVC content team, working with merchants and retailers to upload content.

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Moral, social, and economic duty to act