The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, warning that artificial intelligence could disrupt the economy, is calling for careful study of its unknown effects. The Globe's Joe Castaldo writes that on Friday Mr. Macklem told an AI conference in Toronto: "I would be wary of anyone who claims to know where AI will take us. There's just too much uncertainty to be confident." Mr. Macklem warned: "As AI becomes more established in the economy and its impacts more transformative, it could end up destroying more jobs than it creates. And the people who lose their work to automation may struggle to find new opportunities. This is a concern for all of us." He said, "AI could shrink the number of non-automated tasks so much that there isn't enough work left for the displaced workers." Currently, there is little evidence to suggest that AI is causing a significant displacement of workers that would result in a decrease in overall employment. In fact, employment in computer systems design and related services, which Mr. Macklem referred to as a measure of digitalization, has increased by 48 per cent since the end of 2019, compared with 6 per cent for the rest of the economy.
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