London mayor warns AI threatens jobs

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has warned artificial intelligence, or AI, could wipe out large swaths of the city's jobs if the United Kingdom government does not take preemptive action.

According to a preview of a speech he was scheduled to make on Thursday evening, Khan was set to say London will be "at the sharpest edge of change" because of its concentration of white-collar roles and reliance on finance, professional services, and the creative sector.

Speaking at the annual London government dinner at Mansion House, the mayor was expected to argue that "we have a moral, social and economic duty to act".

And he was planning to caution that junior roles will be hit first, depriving young people of a crucial first rung on the career ladder, and claim old roles were at risk of disappearing faster than new ones are created.

The mayor's office, City Hall, is unveiling a London task force focused on AI and the future of work, alongside free AI training for Londoners, drawing on expertise from industry and government, to assess how technological shifts could affect the city's labor market.

According to a City Hall survey, half of the city's workforce anticipates an impact on their jobs within the next year.

In his address, Khan planned to acknowledge that the new technology could deliver significant benefits, saying: "AI could enable us to transform our public services, turbocharge productivity, and tackle some of our most complex challenges. We need to work with businesses and unions to encourage a responsible and thriving AI industry, here in London, so that London can continue to punch above its weight and compete with the likes of Beijing and Silicon Valley."

However, Khan was planning to say the effect on the labor market will be "nothing short of colossal".

While noting that AI could assist with challenges such as cancer care and climate change, he was expected to say: "Used recklessly, it could usher in a new era of mass unemployment, accelerated inequality and an unprecedented concentration of wealth and power.

"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."

Economists and leaders in the technology sector are divided on what impact AI will have on jobs, reported the Financial Times newspaper.

Dario Amodei, the chief of AI company Anthropic, foresees many jobs will be wiped out in law, consulting, and finance, and says half of all entry-level roles could vanish. OpenAI's Sam Altman warned entire categories, like customer service, may disappear. And Citigroup bank has estimated 54 percent of banking work, especially back-office and data analysis, could be automated.

Others reject this negative outlook, saying such fears are overstated. A study last year by researchers from Yale University and the Brookings Institution in the United States found limited labor-market disruption was expected compared with previous new technologies.

jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com