Nobel Prize Winner in Economics Warns of the Risks of AI

One of this year's Nobel laureates in economics has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) offers "astonishing possibilities" but should be regulated because of its potential to destroy jobs.

The statements by Canadian Peter Howitt, professor emeritus at Brown University in the United States, come amid growing concern about how AI will affect society and the job market.

Howitt was one of three economists recognized on Monday (13) by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for their work on how technology drives and affects growth.

His research, along with fellow laureate Philippe Aghion of France, focused on the theory of “creative destruction,” in which a new and better product enters the market and companies selling old products lose out.

"We don't know what the effects of creative destruction will be," Howitt explained at a press conference. He also assured that it's not yet known who will lead AI.

"It's obviously a fantastic technology with astonishing possibilities. And it also has incredible potential to destroy other jobs or replace highly skilled labor [...]. It will need to be regulated," he argued.

Howitt, 79, called it a "great moment in human history" and compared it to past eras of technological innovation, including the telecommunications boom of the 1990s and the early days of electricity and steam power.

He said all these innovations demonstrated how technology can enhance the workforce, not just replace it. "How are we going to achieve that this time? I wish I had concrete answers, but I don't."

Howitt recalled that when he and Aghion first wrote their influential 1992 paper on creative destruction, it took five years to publish, but they both knew they had found something special.

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