JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is brushing aside apocalyptic predictions about what artificial intelligence (AI) means for humanity — instead, he sees the technology dramatically improving business and his employees’ work-life balance.
Even Dimon — a staunch advocate of established career tips like working hard, being prepared for anything, and working in-person in the office — says future generations of employees will be able to work a day and a half less each week, thanks to AI.
In addition to reducing working hours from five to three and a half days a week, Dimon also predicts that employees in the future will be able to live to be 100 years old.
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Thousands of people at America’s largest bank are already using the technology, Dimon told Bloomberg TVadding that artificial intelligence is a “living, breathing thing” that will change throughout history.
The technology can be used by JPMorgan in a wide range of areas — errors, trading, research and hedging, to name a few — undoubtedly illustrating fears that AI will replace the jobs of its human counterparts.
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Goldman Sachs predicts that approximately 300 million jobs will be lost to technology, with about a quarter of the American workforce fearing that they will lose their jobs to artificial intelligence in the future.
But the advancement of technology is also something that societies have dealt with before, Dimon pointed out, adding that with AI and large language models there are also huge opportunities to improve living standards.
“People need to take a deep breath,” Dimon said. “Technology has always replaced jobs. Your kids will live to be 100 and won’t get cancer because of technology, and literally, they’ll probably be working three and a half days a week.”
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Employees will be able to reduce their working hours, thanks to technology being used to automate some of their activities, McKinsey said in a report published last year.
The report also found that generative AI and other emerging technologies have the potential to automate tasks that take up 60% to 70% of employees’ time right now — adding between $2.6 trillion and $4.4 trillion to global economy each year.
And while companies are still coming to terms with how quickly AI will transform their industries, considerations are already being made to reduce the number of days in the current work week.
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A British study of 61 organizations, carried out by the University of Cambridge, saw a 65% reduction in sick days during a four-day working week, while 71% of employees said they experienced reduced levels of burnout. As a result, 92% of companies in the program said they would maintain a three-day weekend.
Dimon and McKinsey aren’t the first economic leaders to predict that technology will lead to a shorter work week, however. In a 1930 essay titled “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren,” economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that his grandchildren’s generation would work 15 hours a week due to increased productivity. The current UK Keynes average is 36.4 hours.
“There are negative aspects”
Like many other leaders, Dimon is aware that technology can prove a powerful weapon if it falls into the wrong hands.
Echoing the concerns of individuals such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Dimon said: “Technology has done incredible things for humanity, but, you know, planes crash, pharmaceuticals are misused—there are negative aspects.”
“This, in my opinion, is the biggest negative: AI being used by bad people to do bad things. Think cyber warfare.”
Like Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, Dimon also says he expects to see guardrails introduced in the industry, although he acknowledged that this may take some time to come to fruition as the technology is relatively new.
The billionaire head of the New York-based bank also noted that some employees’ lives will be affected by technology displacing their jobs. In the case of JPMorgan Chase, at least, Dimon said he expects to “redeploy” any employee who is laid off by AI.
He drew comparisons to JPMorgan’s acquisition of First Republic in May 2023, when the latter bank fell victim to a wave of banking instability before agreeing to a $10 billion deal.
“At First Republic, we provide jobs to 90% of people. They accepted, but we also told them that some of these jobs are temporary. But we hire 30,000 people a year, so we hope to get them a job somewhere local in a different branch or in a different role if we can do that,” Dimon explained. “We will do this with any relocation that occurs as a result of AI.”
A version of this article was originally published on October 3, 2023
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