JP Morgan CEO says AI won't reduce jobs dramatically — but he still expects one major thing

Dimon reiterated a nuanced and overall upbeat view about the effect of artificial intelligence on the economy.

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CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon at Fox Business Network Studios (Cove image source: Getty Images/Photo by Noam Galai)

The impact of AI on jobs, shopping, and almost every day-to-day activity has been discussed a lot. Now, the head of the world's biggest bank has acknowledged the disruption that artificial intelligence is set to cause in the labor market. In an interview with Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon expressed that he believes that while AI will have a profound impact across industries, it will not lead to a dramatic reduction in jobs in the next year. While businesses have been cautious about hiring, it’s not related to AI. However, Dimon added that the AI disruption will be positive as long as it is properly regulated.

Ai-Da Robot, the world's first ultra-realistic humanoid robot artist | Getty Images | Photo by Rob Pinney — Representative image of Ai-Da Robot, the world's first ultra-realistic humanoid robot artist (Image source: Getty Images/Photo by Rob Pinney)

In the interview, Dimon was asked by Fox News' Maria Bartiromo what Americans should do to prepare for the AI revolution already underway, which is "creating efficiencies" and cutting jobs. Dimon prefaced his answer by noting that the jobs and wages had been weakening even before the AI revolution hit the labor market. Adding that technology is not to be blamed for the current job losses, Dimon claimed that AI will not cut jobs dramatically next year either. "Look, I don't think AI is going to dramatically reduce jobs like unbelievably next year. And for the most part, AI is going to do great stuff for mankind, like tractors did, like fertilizer did, as vaccines did — it'll save lives," Dimon said.

(Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Alexander Tamargo) — Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase speaks onstage during day 2 of the America Business Forum (Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Alexander Tamargo)

However, he cautioned that the technology still needs to be regulated to mitigate the downsides. "Now, of course, it needs to be properly regulated. There are downsides to AI, just like there are to airplanes, pharmaceuticals, and cars. All things get used by bad people," he said. Dimon added that regulation will be needed to control job losses as well, and job cuts due to AI may not be permanent. "So, assuming that the government figured out some way to put guardrails around AI… but it will eliminate jobs. It doesn't mean that people won't have other jobs," he said.

Later in the interview, Dimon added that if the government and corporations initially fail to make the widespread AI adoption work for the public, it will be up to them to figure out a plan to phase in the technology, "in a way that won't damage a lot of people." He reiterated that while jobs may be lost to AI, it can also be used to "retrain and relocate" people, and provide income assistance or help them retire early. "The next job may be a better job, but they have to learn how to do the job," he added, asserting that people with specialized skills will always be valuable to corporations. "It's going to cause probably more jobs in the short run in total," Dimon claimed.

Representative image of a young worker leaping (Image source: Getty Images/Stock photo by Drazen_)

Coming to his advice for Americans to make it through the AI revolution, the CEO said, "My advice to people would be, you know, critical thinking, learn skills, learn your EQ, learn how to be good in meetings, how to communicate, how to write. You'll have plenty of jobs and, if it does happen too fast for society, which is possible, you know, we can't assimilate all those people that quickly."

This isn't the first time that Dimon shared a positive look at AI. Earlier in November, he predicted that AI would help the world transition into a shorter workweek of three and a half days, in the next 20 to 40 years, Fortune reported. In another event, he warned that governments and companies need to plan for an AI future to avoid social backlash. "People should stop sticking their heads in the sand,” he warned, noting that AI will replace some jobs.