Morgan Stanley has some good news if you’re an office worker who lives in fear of an AI-fueled jobs wipeout. <\/p>\n
The Wall Street Bank said on Friday that the most exposed demographic to AI disruption stands to benefit the most. As widespread AI-driven layoff announcements<\/a> have dominated news cycles, white-collar workers across industries have wondered if their jobs are next to be automated away. <\/p>\n But according to Morgan Stanley economist Heather Berger, it’s these workers who stand to win from the ways in which AI will reshape labor. <\/p>\n “High-income, college-educated, urban households are most exposed to AI displacement but also to potential AI gains: productivity-driven wage growth, job creation, wealth effects, and disinflation,” she wrote. “We think these upside channels are underappreciated.”<\/p>\n Berger’s team uses the acronym CHIC\u2014 college-educated, high-income, city-dwelling. This group, by Morgan Stanley’s assessment, is most likely to be impacted by AI as a job-market disrupting force as it continues to evolve.<\/p>\n The economists noted that younger CHIC workers are more likely to see parts of their jobs replaced by AI, particularly routine, entry-level tasks. But older colleagues could end up seeing wage growth due to productivity gains that AI is expected to deliver without fully replacing them. <\/p>\n “In terms of job creation, it is still early, but new AI-related occupations have so far been aimed at these same CHIC consumers,” Berger added. “AI-related job postings have been targeted towards higher-income consumers with some experience in similar ‘highly-exposed’ industries.”<\/p>\n The bank’s prediction comes as AI fears are on the rise<\/a> in the job market and beyond, as ominous statements from AI industry insiders and doomsday scenarios<\/a> have gone viral. But Berger’s team maintains that AI job fears may be overblown, and she isn’t the only one. <\/p>\n