International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said technological advancements will probably eliminate about 26 million jobs and disproportionately hurt women, citing a forthcoming IMF study.
She was among the world leaders and corporate executives gathered in New York on Wednesday for the Bloomberg Global Business Forum.
The IMF study analyzed the impact of artificial intelligence, biotechnology and robotics on nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Lagarde said during a discussion with Robin Li, chief executive officer of Beijing-based Baidu, which runs a search engine.
“That’s just one side of the coin,” Li said, adding that technology will enhance human endeavors. He noted that it will be “quite a few years” before computers can replace drivers, for example. Li said new jobs will be created, such as the need for humans to manage and label the data that computers would use in artificial intelligence applications.
“You don’t want to replace us,” Lagarde said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.