In their report 'Scaling up the benefits of generative AI: the role of fiscal policies' they noted that, like other types of innovation, it can lead to greater income inequality and concentration of wealth.
The emergence of generative AI may lead to a “painful transition” in which large sections of the workforce become out of work, so fiscal policy has an important role to play in supporting a more equitable distribution of gains and opportunities. of this new technology, including the reinforcement of capital taxes and an expansion of the coverage of protection networks against unemployment, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In its report 'Expanding the benefits of generative AI: the role of fiscal policies', the Washington-based institution warns that generative AI, like other types of innovation, can lead to greater income inequality and concentration of wealth.
"While AI could eventually boost employment and wages overall, it could leave large swaths of the workforce out of work for prolonged periods, leading to a painful transition," noted economists Era Dabla-Norris and Ruud de Mooij. in the presentation of the document.
In this sense, the IMF report argues that fiscal policy has an important role to play in supporting a more equitable distribution of the gains and opportunities from generative AI, but warns that this will require significant improvements in tax and protection systems. social throughout the world.
Thus, taking into account the lessons of past waves of automation and IMF models, the authors suggest that more generous unemployment insurance could cushion the negative impact of AI on workers, allowing displaced workers to find jobs that best fit your abilities.
"Most countries have considerable scope to expand the coverage and generosity of unemployment insurance, improve the portability of rights and consider forms of wage insurance," they note.
Likewise, on the fiscal side, in response to the risk of greater income inequality and wealth concentration due to AI, the IMF considers that "taxes on capital income should be strengthened" to protect the tax base against a further decline in labor's share of income and compensate for growing wealth inequality.
"This is crucial, as greater investment in education and social spending to expand the benefits of AI will require more public revenue," they say.
In this sense, they recall that, since the 1980s, the tax burden on capital income has steadily decreased in advanced economies, while the burden on labor income has increased.
