AI can lift global growth by 0.8%, but poses high risk to jobs: IMF chief

At the India AI Impact Summit, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said AI could significantly boost global output and drive stronger economic growth worldwide

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Friday said artificial intelligence (AI) could raise global growth by 0.8 per cent and help India realise its ambition of becoming a developed nation.

 

Addressing a panel at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, Georgieva said the findings of IMF's research on the economic impact of AI point to a meaningful boost in global output.

 

"It would mean that the world would grow faster than it did before the Covid-19 pandemic," she said, adding that the growth would be "fantastic" for creating more opportunities and jobs.

 

 

'India's Viksit Bharat goal achievable'

Linking the findings to India’s development ambitions, Georgieva said, "This is the magnitude that we see for India, and it would mean that India's Viksit Bharat (goal) is achievable." 

 

India has set a target of becoming a developed nation, or Viksit Bharat, by 2047, and building a $30 trillion economy.

Risks posed by AI

However, she also warned that AI poses significant disruption risks, including a widening divide between countries and greater upheaval in the job market. "It brings the risk of making countries and the world less fair. Some have it, and others don't," she said.

 

She further added it also brings the risk of displacement of jobs without any thought about the accommodation of people in the new AI world.

 

"We calculated that this risk is very high. We actually see the impact of AI on the labour market like a tsunami. Globally, 40 per cent of jobs will be affected by AI...In emerging markets, 40 per cent, but in advanced economies, 60 per cent," she said.