ChatGPT Admits AI May Cause Mass Unemployment and Chaos

While I was in a mischievous mood, I asked ChatGPT and two other popular chatbots about AI’s societal ramifications. Ironically enough, it appears that the AI revolution may eventually lead to a literal, violent revolution.

The actual prompt I used was: “Will there come a time when AI displaces so many jobs that there will be hyper-unemployment in the U.S.? Wouldn’t this lead to chaos and a drastically reduced quality of life for the populace?” I typed this exact query into ChatGPT, Perplexity.ai, and Grok.

I hoped for responses that would offer some optimism and even hope for a better future for America and humankind. What I actually got was AI’s admission that it could precipitate some form of dystopia.

Don’t get me wrong; I already knew the situation was dire. Even coding/programming jobs, once presumed to be safe from displacement, are now on the chopping block as Big Tech firms replace human coders with AI bots.

Perplexity.ai and Grok both emphasized that repetitive, low-skill jobs are at the greatest risk. Grok estimated that “truck drivers (3.5 million U.S. jobs) face risks from autonomous vehicles, and office clerks (2.8 million jobs) could be replaced by AI tools.”

It wasn’t very long ago that getting a CDL license and driving a truck was a surefire path to gainful employment. However, that employment track is evidently evaporating in the 2020s.

Courtesy: @MenthorQpro

In any case, don’t jump to the conclusion that only low-skill jobs are at risk. Perplexity.ai and Grok cited the same research indicating that 30% of all current U.S. jobs could be automated by 2030.

Perplexity.ai and Grok both suggested that AI could create new jobs while replacing some current ones. Perplexity.ai was more optimistic than Grok, claiming that new roles could emerge in the fields of “data analysis, AI system development, and human-AI collaboration.”

To that, I would counter that Big Tech firms will continue to discover and develop ways to automate tasks in those fields. ChatGPT, the least optimistic of the three chatbots I queried, at least had the guts to admit that “If businesses can achieve higher productivity and profitability with fewer workers, the economic incentives to reduce headcount are strong.”

All three chatbots stressed that widespread unemployment and a breakdown of social order aren’t inevitable. Fair enough, but “not inevitable” means they’re entertaining the possibility, which is unnerving in itself.

The most optimistic of the three chatbots was Perplexity.ai, which proposed that a “new prosperity” is a possible outcome just as much as “chaos” might be. Still, even a “new prosperity” would entail growing pains as Perplexity.ai stated that “a period of difficult adjustment and significant workforce transformation is expected.”

Courtesy: @GlobalMktObserv

I’m fairly sure that most middle-class Americans could at least agree with the “period of difficult adjustment and significant workforce transformation” thesis, as it’s probably already underway. Folks are already preparing for disruption, with University of Michigan survey data finding that 58% of Americans expect higher unemployment in the next 12 months, a reading that rivals the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 to 2009.

ChatGPT’s response didn’t paint a pretty picture, but I won’t fault it for being forthright. The socioeconomic consequences of AI-driven job displacement, according to ChatGPT, could include mass unemployment/underemployment, erosion of the middle class, increased mental health issues from loss of purpose and identity tied to work, civil unrest, populist uprisings, political instability, and widening inequality as capital owners gain most of the AI-driven gains.

Regarding prospective solutions, the three chatbots all asserted that some form of government intervention will be crucial in the coming years. Interestingly, all three chatbots brought up universal basic income (UBI) as a possible answer to the AI problem.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the government resorts to money printing and distribution at some point. Regardless of how this “rise of the machines” movie ends, I certainly hope you’re factoring AI’s implications into your investing and building your wealth while it’s still attainable.