AI layoffs could outpace new jobs, warns LBS’s Dr Abramova

London Business School’s Dr Ekaterina Abramova has warned that artificial intelligence could displace workers faster than new jobs are created, raising the risk of widening inequality and social unrest.

Writing in Business Insider, Dr Abramova argues that today’s AI wave differs sharply from previous technological shifts. Rather than unfolding gradually, modern AI systems can automate cognitive tasks across multiple sectors at speed, leaving labour markets little time to adjust. Entry-level and routine professional roles, she notes, are particularly exposed, while retraining and job-creation mechanisms struggle to keep pace.

Her concern is not simply job loss, but the velocity of change. Drawing on historical examples of rapid economic disruption, Dr Abramova suggests that when institutions lag behind technology, societies can experience long-lasting instability. She stresses, however, that these outcomes are not inevitable, pointing to the need for policies that promote worker-augmenting AI, investment in skills, and updated labour-market protections.

Dr Abramova’s analysis aligns with recent warnings from Geoffrey Hinton, often described as the “Godfather of AI”. Hinton has argued that AI is likely to replace a growing range of human jobs over the next few years, while simultaneously driving productivity and profits. In his view, without deliberate intervention, the economic gains from AI will accrue disproportionately to capital owners, exacerbating inequality and weakening the link between work and prosperity.

Together, Abramova’s institutional focus and Hinton’s structural critique underline a shared message: AI’s economic impact will be shaped less by the technology itself than by the choices societies make in governing, regulating and distributing its benefits.