David Autor warns that AI could create a dystopian future resembling 'Mad Max,' where cheap labor dominates the job market and wealth becomes increasingly concentrated. The economist emphasizes that society may see a stark divide where a wealthy elite controls resources while many struggle. He points out that automation might not eliminate jobs but could devalue skills, making them abundant and, thus, worthless. Furthermore, he highlights the dual nature of automation, which can either enhance expertise or reduce job complexity, impacting the workforce's future.
"The more likely scenario to me looks much more like 'Mad Max: Fury Road,' where everybody is competing over a few remaining resources that aren't controlled by some warlord somewhere."
"So you can have a world that's very wealthy and yet, most people don't have anything."
"The threat that rapid automation poses - to the degree it poses as a threat - is not running out of work, but making the valuable skills that people have highly abundant so they're no longer valuable."
"Automation can either increase the expertise of your work by eliminating the supporting tasks and allowing you to focus on what you're really good at, or it can descale your work by automating the expert parts and just leaving you with a sort of last mile."
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