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As debate intensifies over the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), people are sounding the alarm about the technology’s potential to disrupt the American workforce and displace workers.
“Maybe not yet, but it is certainly going to happen imminently,” Max from South Africa said about the risk of AI taking jobs away from Americans.
“The amount of AI that’s pushing and talkbots that you can use and systems that will allow you to sidestep other individuals or systems, it’s on its way,” Max said.
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People are weighing the threat artificial intelligence poses to workers to Fox News Digital as AI infrastructure rapidly expands and new research finds little evidence of significant job losses so far. (Nicholas Ballasy/Fox News Digital; Mikala Compton/The Austin American-Statesman/Getty Images)
“Everybody’s probably going to get fired, just wait,” Ivory from Virginia told Fox News Digital.
The reactions come after a shocking new report by the Budget Lab at Yale revealed that recent research shows no connection between the rapid adoption of AI and changes in employment rates.
“I think maybe folks are afraid… that there will not be any humans needed to run things, but I think that’s not the case,” Crystal from Pennsylvania said. “You’re going to need the people to still implement the AI.”
A recent paper by the Bureau of Economic Analysis similarly found that AI use has not been linked to any significant decline in employment, and is instead associated with stronger economic growth.
Others that Fox News Digital spoke with dismissed the report’s results, suggesting AI adoption will inevitably spike job layoffs.
“I don’t believe it,” Henry from Virginia said when asked about the recent report.
He continued, “You take any business…. They’re all training to make people available and able to work with AI. And the net of it is that the nose count goes down.”
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Another person Fox News Digital spoke with disagreed, arguing AI is “not there yet” in its ability to replace human intelligence.
“We thought that it could replace software developers and coders right off the bat,” he said. “Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for AI, we’re not there yet. “
AI has been at the forefront of conversation in Washington, with President Donald Trump urging against tech experts’ call for a slowdown in the development of AI to allow humans to keep up with its rapidly accelerating pace. Prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, are pleading for the slowdown despite previously promoting its economic potential.
“We have an energy crisis,” a person who spoke with Fox News Digital said. “We don’t have enough energy to really take AI to the next level. At this point, I think moving forward next decade, we’ll see a lot of changes. But as of right now, when you lay off the panic button, I think we’re just fine.”
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Virginia has long been at the center of America’s data center industry, with Northern Virginia now the largest data center market in the world and home to roughly 13% of global operational capacity. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
While America is producing record amounts of crude oil, the expansion of data centers is projected to ramp up electricity demand in the U.S. to record levels in the coming years, according to the Energy Information Administration. It is estimated that a large data center will require as much electricity as a small city, Fed researchers found.
The looming uncertainty over the impact of AI in the future is prompting workers to consider how to prepare for an AI-powered economy, despite the data not yet confirming the fears of impacting employment rates.
“You need to know how it works and get good at using it,” Harvey from London said.
“I think it’s just going to propel us forward and we have to keep up,” Crystal said.
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She continued, “If we don’t, what’s next?”
