Over 200 Economists and AI Experts Issue a Call: 'We Must Act Now to Prepare for the Impact of Artificial Intelligence'
Over 200 Economists and AI Experts Issue a Call: 'We Must Act Now to Prepare for the Impact of Artificial Intelligence'
A group of over 200 economists, researchers, and leaders in the technology industry—including sixteen Nobel laureates—has published a call titled "We Must Act Now: A Statement on AI's Transformation of the Economy" which highlights the long-term economic consequences of artificial intelligence.
The document states that immediate intervention is needed to prepare for a transformation that could have few precedents in modern history. Among the signatories are also prominent figures from the tech sector such as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Google’s Jeff Dean, Anthropic's Jack Clark, and OpenAI's Sarah Friar.
The text of the document is intentionally concise yet contains a clear message. According to the signatories, in the next ten years, artificial intelligence could become “radically more powerful,” leading to an economic transformation greater than that of the Industrial Revolution, but concentrated over a much shorter time frame.
The authors acknowledge that this evolution could bring significant benefits, such as increased productivity and improved living standards, but at the same time highlight significant risks, including the potential replacement of a large number of workers by AI systems. For this reason, they urge economists, policymakers, and tech companies to deepen their study of the economic effects of artificial intelligence and to build incentives, rules, and institutions capable of steering its development towards a model that complements human capabilities.
Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, emphasizes how technological progress is proceeding much more rapidly than understanding its economic effects. In his opinion, it is precisely this gap that makes coordinated action urgent so that AI is developed to complement human work and contribute to widespread prosperity rather than just replicating tasks already performed by humans.
A similar concept is expressed by Nobel laureate Michael Spence, who argues that the speed, scope, and uncertainty characterizing the evolution of artificial intelligence require a shared approach between academia, governments, and industry to guide this technology toward outcomes favorable to society.
Daron Acemoglu, also a Nobel laureate in economics, argues that it is necessary to rethink the development of AI so that risks can be mitigated and benefits can be extended to workers and the community. Anton Korinek references the great technological revolutions of the past, noting that steam, electricity, and computers left decades for institutions and economies to adapt, whereas AI could compress this process into a few years.
Ajay Agrawal finally emphasizes that the final outcome is not predetermined. According to the researcher, whether AI can improve collective well-being or exacerbate wealth concentration will depend on the political and economic decisions made today.
Overall, the document does not propose specific regulatory interventions nor calls for a slowdown in artificial intelligence development. Instead, the stated goal is to promote timely dialogue on the economic implications of the technology, believing that waiting for certainties could leave governments and institutions unprepared for a change that, according to the signatories, could unfold with unprecedented speed.