""Imagine I told you that AI was going to create a 40% unemployment rate. Sounds bad, right? Catastrophic even. Now imagine I told you that AI was going to create a 3-day working week. Sounds great, right? Wonderful even.""
""60% of people employed and 40% unemployed is the same number of working hours as 100% employed at 60% of the hours.""
""Everyone goes to the negative possibility instead of to the positive possibility. Which doesn't mean that we're guaranteed - the transition could be bumpy, that's for sure.""
""Keynes famously predicted in the 1930s that by 2030, a 15-hour work week would be possible - and then asked, with obvious unease, what people would do with all that free time.""
Alex Tabarrok argues that the conversation around AI and work often defaults to fears of unemployment. He suggests that reducing work hours could lead to benefits like shorter work weeks and longer leisure time. He emphasizes that a scenario of 40% unemployment could be equivalent to a 3-day work week, highlighting the importance of how society chooses to distribute the gains from AI. Historical perspectives from economists like Keynes also reflect concerns about the implications of increased leisure time.
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