By Jeffrey Dastin and Andrea Shalal
NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Panelists at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York sidestepped concerns about an artificial intelligence bubble, focusing instead on the transformative effects of AI and how it can disrupt work and job growth.
Artificial intelligence represents the biggest technological disruption to the global economy since the rise of the Internet a quarter of a century ago. It has generated trillions of dollars in investments and soaring stock market gains, but also memory chip shortages, regulatory scrutiny and growing anxiety about job displacement.
The numbers are amazing. In the first half of 2025, AI-related capital expenditures contributed more to GDP growth than consumption, according to JP Morgan Asset Management. Investment advisor Bespoke Investment Group recently estimated that around a third of the increase in global market capitalization since the introduction of AI assistant ChatGPT comes from 28 AI-related companies.
Corporate executives at Reuters NEXT on Wednesday and Thursday largely focused on how AI would transform work, although some talked about the threat to jobs. “All of (our clients) are focused on slowing headcount growth,” said May Habib, CEO and co-founder of AI startup Writer. “This has happened just in the last few weeks. You close a client, get on the phone with the CEO to start the project, and say, ‘Great, how soon can I eliminate 30% of my team?'”
SAP CEO Christian Klein said that at a recent company meeting, the top question from employees was how AI would impact their jobs. “We’re deploying AI across the company, even my general counsel, my legal department, it’s not safe, something that can be done more efficiently with AI,” he said.
FEARS OF LABOR UNREST
Fears about job displacement caused by the rise of AI are backed by a US Federal Reserve report that points to data and surveys that say artificial intelligence is already replacing entry-level jobs and causing companies to scale back their hiring plans. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in August showed that 71% were worried that AI would “put too many people out of work permanently.”
Striking a more optimistic tone that became one of the themes of the Reuters NEXT conference, economist Joseph Lavorgna, adviser to the US Treasury Secretary, said the focus should be on how technology could enhance the workforce rather than replace it. “AI is an incredible tool that I think complements the existing workforce,” he said. “We need policies that encourage companies to invest, and AI is a complement.”
However, employment data is difficult to ignore. Recent college graduates have seen a sharp rise in unemployment, with the current unemployment rate at 9.5% for those ages 20 to 24 with a bachelor’s degree, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, compared to the nation’s 4.4% rate.
Joe Depa, chief innovation officer at EY, compared the changes to previous technological disruptions, such as the development of the Internet, but “the difference this time is that the disruption is faster.” Depa said that “adaptability is the new job security,” and his biggest concern revolves around the middle management class.
Tracey Franklin, chief people and digital technology officer at Moderna, said what has changed is the way companies are starting to assess employment needs in conjunction with technology needs, rather than separately.
“We’re bringing teams together and really looking at what your IT portfolio is, what your human capital strategy is, how we bring it together to meet your business objectives. So we’re having these integrated conversations that we didn’t have before,” he said.
SKEPTICISM AND CONCERN
The Reuters/Ipsos poll also showed that 61% were concerned about rising data center electricity consumption, which will only grow. Jeff Schultz, senior vice president of portfolio strategy at Cisco Systems, noted that the infrastructure to run AI and the chips needed already consume a lot of power, and that the network traffic needed for agent AI is much larger and more constant than the sporadic demand for AI chatbots.
When asked about concerns about the AI bubble, Schultz said massive investments in the technology were justified, given the opportunity.
But backlash is growing against energy-hogging data center clusters that have contributed to rising utility prices. It’s evident in places like Virginia and Pennsylvania, even among supporters of President Donald Trump, who has defended the development of AI and is considering ways to restrict regulations at the state level.
There was notable disquiet among Reuters NEXT speakers from the media and creative industries, due to concerns that AI-generated content could replace the creative work of writers or actors.
“When it comes to talent, there’s a lot of controversy, whether it’s acting, music, et cetera, and that’s where I think we really need to be very aggressive in protecting creative talent and making sure they’re not replaced,” said media executive Shari Redstone.
Sarah Jessica Parker, the star of the television series “Sex and the City,” said she believes people still value the tactile human experience, citing the unpredictability and spontaneity of performance.
“We still – most of us – rely on human exchange,” Parker told Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni. “Even in film, even though I know there are so many things now that can be fixed and made prettier or tighter or better, there’s still this human element when we talk about the movies we love… I’m not sure AI can replicate that nerve in live action.”
Read Reuters NEXT’s full coverage here.
(Reporting by David Gaffen, Jeffrey Dastin, Andrea Shalal, Krystal Hu, Dawn Chmielewski, Kritika Lamba, Deborah Sophia, Harshita Varghese and Juby Babu; writing by David Gaffen; editing by Rod Nickel and Matthew Lewis)
