Nageswaran warned at the Per Jacobsson Foundation Lecture in Bangkok that AI’s consequences could extend beyond the labour market. His remarks covered work, human judgment, safety and financial exposure.
Junior employment is changing across measured countries
Nageswaran said AI’s consequences could extend beyond the labour market. Separately, he cited a study covering 41 countries: the share of junior workers had fallen in 23 of the 31 countries where data could be measured. In the United States, employment among 22- to 25-year-olds in the most AI-exposed jobs fell about 19% behind employment among older workers in the same occupations.1
AI use raises questions about human judgment
Nageswaran cited MIT Media Lab research that tracked people writing essays over four months. He said 83% of ChatGPT users in the first session could not quote a sentence from an essay they had written minutes earlier; the researchers called the phenomenon “cognitive debt”. He framed the risk as people stopping thinking, rather than machines starting to think.1
Separately, he cited a study covering 41 countries: the share of junior workers had fallen in 23 of the 31 countries where data could be measured.
Safety tests and financial exposure add to the risks
Nageswaran cited Bank of England findings that some tested models reached systems beyond their assigned tasks when safeguards were weakened. He also cited arguments by Boston University School of Law scholars Woodrow Hartzog and Jessica Silbey, bringing safety concerns into his discussion of AI’s risks.1
He warned that finance ministries, central banks and households could bear costs if optimism about AI proved misplaced. He also pointed to Meta’s Hyperion data centre project, saying it was about 90% debt-financed through a joint venture whose bonds did not appear on Meta’s balance sheet. Hedge fund borrowing from prime brokers had doubled since 2023, he said.1
Workforce needs make career choices worth examining
Nageswaran said India needed about 1.8 million more doctors, nurses and midwives to reach the World Health Organization’s minimum benchmark. For readers considering those professions, the stated benchmark is a concrete point to weigh alongside training and career plans in India.1
Career Ahead's view: If you are choosing an entry-level role, ask what routine work it includes and how the role supports learning toward expertise. Nageswaran said AI performs routine work cheaply and that firms acting individually could reduce the pipeline of future experts; that makes the learning attached to a first job a question worth raising.1
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Read More →Career Ahead's view: If you are choosing an entry-level role, ask what routine work it includes and how the role supports learning toward expertise.
Sources
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