Bezos Says AI Will Lead Not to Unemployment but to a Shortage of Workers

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said artificial intelligence will not push people out of the labor market but, on the contrary, lead to a shortage of workers.

The billionaire made the statement, which Reuters described as “optimistic,” at the VivaTech technology conference in Paris.

“I know that many people, including very smart people, have concerns that AI will make humans unnecessary, and so on. <…> I completely disagree with that view. And I believe that, on the contrary, AI will lead to a labor shortage,” Bezos said.

Bezos, who ranks fourth on the list of the world’s richest people with a fortune of about $250 billion, said humanity has an “infinite” number of tasks. Many of them, he said, are currently constrained by barriers that AI can help overcome.

His comments came against the backdrop of mass layoffs at large international companies after major investments in artificial intelligence. As Reuters notes, businesses often explain the job cuts by citing increased efficiency from the rapid adoption of new technologies.

In the United States, employers announced 97,006 job cuts in May. According to a report by the recruitment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, about 40% of those layoffs were linked to AI.

Amazon has also cut about 30,000 corporate positions since the end of last year. This was partly explained by efficiency gains after the introduction of AI tools.

Separately, Bezos spoke about his space company Blue Origin. According to him, one of the goals of space development is to move polluting industries beyond Earth.

“If space travel becomes reliable and cheap enough, and we can obtain materials from asteroids, near-Earth objects and the Moon, then this garden planet can be returned to its pre-industrial state,” Bezos said.