Andrew Yang warns not enough is being done to prepare for AI, impact on labor market

Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang warned that not enough is being done to prepare for artificial intelligence (AI), particularly for its impact on the labor market, which he said could cause massive job losses. 

While speaking to Fox News Digital this week, Yang emphasized that there are going to be “dramatic changes” that will come with AI and that the institutions around the country are not prepared for the upcoming shift. 

“When I was running for president in 2020, I was talking about the job loss, which I’m still very, very concerned about,” said Yang, now a co-chairman of the Forward Party.

“The IMF said that about 40 percent of global jobs could be affected. That’s hundreds of millions of workers around the world, but you can see the effect right now in our politics, and it’s just beginning.”

In a new analysis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that close to 40 percent of jobs could be disrupted with the development and wider proliferation of AI. 

“AI is a very, very powerful technology and set of tools, and there’s nothing intrinsically positive or negative about tools, but there is something positive and negative about how tools can be used,” Yang said. 

Yang referenced how AI and deepfake videos are already making a significant impact in the political sphere. The entrepreneur referenced the robocall, generated by AI, that was used during the New Hampshire primary to urge voters not to show up for President Biden.

“And you can very clearly see deepfake videos already being employed for political purposes,” Yang said. “Fake pictures of terrorist attacks being used to manipulate the stock market.”

“Pretty soon. We’re not going to be able to tell up from down and left from right, and if people show you a video of me doing something heinous, I’ll just shrug and be like, didn’t happen, and that could be the best defense before too long.”

Yang was in South Carolina this week campaigning for Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), a congressman who is challenging Biden in the Democratic primary. Phillips pledged that, if elected president, he would establish a “Department of AI” to ensure the nation is prepared to deal with the development of AI. 

“We are categorically not doing enough to prepare for AI and its impact in the labor market,” Yang said.