\n<\/p>\n
BANGKOK: Strong investment \u200bin AI infrastructure is keeping global growth at around 3% with major benefits for Asia, but also foreshadows a \u201cslow-moving tsunami\u201d that could massively disrupt labor \u200cmarkets, taxation and education, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday.<\/strong><\/p>\n The artificial intelligence investment boom was already delivering a \u201cdemand shock, an investment shock\u201d that could boost growth in advanced Asian economies by a half to one full percentage point, and emerging Asian economies by 0.2 to 0.8 percentage point, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAI, love it, hate it. It\u2019s already here,\u201d Georgieva said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat shift into higher gear is what \u200bis keeping the world economy growing at around 3%, despite the fact we are being dragged down by the energy supply shock,\u201d she told hundreds of \u200bparticipants on the first day of a weeklong set of meetings of the IMF and World Bank in the Thai capital.<\/span><\/p>\n The IMF in \u2060July forecast global growth at 3% in 2026. It will release an updated outlook on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n Some 18,000 people are expected to attend the gathering this week, including finance officials from the IMF\u2019s \u200b191 members. However, several finance ministers will skip the trip to focus on domestic priorities, including US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Spanish Finance Minister Arcadi Espa\u00f1a.<\/span><\/p>\n Also absent will be the finance ministers \u200bfrom Canada, India and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is struggling to contain an Ebola outbreak that has killed at least 4,000 people, said a source familiar with the plans.<\/span><\/p>\n Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan, who heads the IMF\u2019s steering committee, still planned to attend despite an operations halt at the Riyadh airport following deadly weekend attacks by Yemen\u2019s Iran-aligned Houthis, two sources said.<\/span><\/p>\n Asked about the negative \u200bimpact of AI on jobs, Georgieva said that IMF research shows that some 40% of jobs will be either augmented, downgraded or eliminated by AI, and as high as \u200b60% in advanced economies.<\/span><\/p>\n This will have profound consequences for jobs, growth, education and even how governments generate revenue through taxation, given the expected shift from labor to capital.<\/span><\/p>\n An initial study showed that 10% \u200cof jobs \u2060in the US already required AI skills. While routine, repetitive jobs were shrinking, low-paying jobs were increasing in two lower-paying sectors, construction and data centers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt is a transformative technology. It so completely changes how we work, how we live,\u201d she said, noting that an AI assistant now gave her a 30-second message about her schedule each morning.<\/span><\/p>\n The US, China and India are the most important producers in the AI supply chain, but many of the firms supplying hardware for the needed infrastructure are in Asia, Georgieva said, referencing Thailand, host of this \u200byear\u2019s annual meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n Singapore President \u200bTharman Shanmugaratnam, speaking at the same \u2060event, said governments should address how AI was reducing job opportunities for graduates.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere is a particular problem that we have to address very soon \u2026 and that is that, the first rung in employment, your first job upon graduation, is now seeing less demand,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n He \u200bsaid the world should also guard against AI resulting in a \u201cnew divergence\u201d in growth and job creation between developing and advanced \u200beconomies.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAI is going to \u2060widen the divergence if we are too passive about it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we\u2019ve got to do everything we can to first use AI to create good jobs and to create jobs that can be done well by human beings, can allow them to ride up a career ladder despite AI.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n World Bank President Ajay Banga, who has made jobs a central focus of his \u2060presidency, told reporters \u200bthat he was not convinced that entry-level jobs would be destroyed by AI, and that much of the \u200bdisruption would take place in advanced economies that are building large AI models.<\/span><\/p>\nAI IMPACT ON ENTRY-LEVEL JOBS<\/span><\/h2>\n