'I think it's actually very hard to replace a human job entirely'
White House AI czar David Sacks has downplayed the potential impact of artificial intelligence adoption on employment, despite research and experts saying it could lead to job losses.
Sacks told attendees at the Amazon Web Services Summit in Washington, DC, that he also believes the quote circulating online that says workers are not going to lose their jobs to AI, but to someone who knows the technology better.
"I don't think it's going to lead to a giant wave of unemployment. I think it's going to make workers more productive. That's the pattern with every previous technology revolution," he said.
"I think it's actually very hard to replace a human job entirely. I think it's easier to replace pieces of it."
He made the remarks amid previous research that warned employers may reduce their headcount as a result of AI adoption. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei also told Axios that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs, as well as increase unemployment by up to 20% in the next one to five years.
"I don't think we're going to have 20% unemployment," Sacks said.
The White House AI czar also called out contradictions in what he called the "doomer cult" regarding AI's impact on GDP growth rate.
"It seems to me that if you believe this is a profound technology then you know it should have a big impact on GDP as well," he said. "I want to be realistic about this, I could see AI driving our growth rate to something like four or five per cent."
Sacks underscored that AI models are getting better when it comes to capabilities, with the world welcoming agents that can take actions on users’ behalf.
Agentic AI is a new system of artificial intelligence that is generating concerns over job losses. A recent report from the Information Services Group even showed that agentic AI is beginning to gain momentum among multiprocess human resources outsourcing service providers.
Sacks said he believes these agents will be under the guidance of human workers who will use them to become more productive.
"Humans start replacing pieces of their job with agents to make themselves more productive. As they do that, they find other things to adopt and incorporate into their jobs as well," he said.
"I tend to think that's the direction we're headed and I think we have to embrace that opportunity to be more productive."
