Chilling AI prediction: A Mad Max-like future for jobs may be coming; top economist warns

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping our world in profound ways—from improving medical diagnostics to powering chatbots and self-driving cars. But not all of its impacts are positive. In a Business Insider interview on the “Possible” podcast, MIT economist David Autor sounded a serious caution: AI could turn our labour market into something resembling a Mad Max wasteland. While this doesn’t mean total job loss, it does mean something equally alarming—the devaluation of once-valuable skills, pushing many into poorly paid work with limited advancement, as reported by Business Insider.

This warning comes amid broader studies, such as a Salesforce projection that up to 23% of the workforce could be redeployed due to AI in the next two years (Business Insider, citing Salesforce).