Growth Summit 2023: The impact of AI on growth, according to experts

"If we play it right, we'll all be better off."

This was the view of Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Chief Economist Michael Schwarz on a session dedicated to generative AI at the World Economic Forum's Growth Summit 2023.

"When AI makes us more productive, we as mankind ought to be better off because we are able to produce more stuff with less: less work, less toil and less use of resources."

AI and the rise of generative AI – and how it will impact the future of work and education – was an overarching theme of the summit, and was touched on again and again during the 60 sessions.

Panellists discussed the opportunities and challenges with the technology, including the need for regulation and how to ensure we avoid doing harm by harnessing the right ethical values, and the potential threat from bad actors.

AI could help to transform work across the globe, said Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO), speaking at the session Global Economic Outlook: What Next For Globalization?

"The use of AI and technology is more open to all countries than you'd expect in the past, so it will depend heavily on those countries that are much more prepared to transform their technology modus operandi."

The Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2023, released during the summit, found generative AI is expected to be adopted by nearly 75% of surveyed companies.

Many clerical or secretarial roles are seen as likely to decline quickly because of AI, but roles for AI and machine-learning specialists, data analysts and scientists, and digital transformation specialists are expected to grow rapidly.

"There is no doubt that the future of work will be disruptive," the Forum's Managing Director, Saadia Zahidi, writes.

"But it need not be dystopian. Instead, it can be an opportunity to lay the foundations for putting people firmly at the centre of the new global economy."

Catch up on all the key quotes on Twitter – or watch the sessions in full.

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What is the outlook for jobs and how should governments, employers and workers prepare?

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