of the fox Martha MacCallum Director of the National Economic Council grilled Kevin Hassett about AI-related layoffs in Friday’s edition of The storyto which he insisted that “those are headlines that you see every year.”
MacCallum cited recent layoffs (and subsequent statements) from companies like UPS and Amazon that blame advances in artificial intelligence for the cuts. “I’m wondering what you think the impact will be on the American economy if we continue to see these types of layoffs for people who went to college, have a white-collar job, have been there for 3 to 5 years, and are about to get layoff notices,” he asked.
“Obviously, our hearts go out to anyone who loses their job, but right now job creation is positive,” said Hassett, the favorite to take over as Fed chair. Jerome Powell position when his term ends in May. “When people use AI at work, they become more productive and see better…”
“You see these layoffs happening,” MacCallum interrupted. “Are you listening to that?”
“I read the news as well as you, Martha,” Hassett responded. “If you’re unlucky enough to have your company say, ‘I’m going to replace you’… if you move into a new career, AI will help you retrain faster… The job market is positive, the GDP and income numbers are really positive. We see the headlines, but they’re headlines you see every year.”
A bemused MacCallum clarified: “So you’re saying you don’t think there’s an AI reorganization job structure coming up in the United States of America?”
“AI is making people more productive, making it possible for some companies to make the same amount of things with fewer workers,” Hassett said. “But then those workers look for another job, and that’s why labor markets look so strong right now.”
Notably, in September, Hassett told CNBC that the latest jobs report was “a little disappointing right now.”
Watch the clip above via Fox.
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