Anthropic has debuted a program to study AI impact on the labor market. The AI company’s Economic Futures Program will also help come up with policy proposals to ready the world for this economic shift. “Everybody’s asking questions about what are the economic impacts [of AI], both positive and negative,” Sarah Heck, head of policy programs and partnerships at Anthropic, told. “It’s really important to root these conversations in evidence and not have predetermined outcomes or views on what’s going to [happen].” The report noted that among the prominent figures to offer their views on the potential economic impact of AI is Dario Amodei, Anthropic’s chief executive. Last month, he predicted AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and send unemployment to as high as 20% in the coming years. When asked if one of the goals of the program was to research ways to alleviate AI-related job loss, Heck was “cautious,” the report said, arguing that the disruptive shifts AI will bring could be “both good and bad.” “I think the key goal is to figure out what is actually happening,” she said. “If there is job loss, then we should convene a collective group of thinkers to talk about mitigation. If there will be huge GDP expansion, great. We should also convene policy makers to figure out what to do with that. I don’t think any of this will be a monolith.”