2010 Nobel laureate Christopher Pissarides said AI is unlikely to return Western
economies to the high productivity growth seen in prior decades. He warned up to
40% of jobs in the US and UK—notably care and hospitality—are likely to be
largely unaffected by AI and said there is currently little evidence AI will
materially raise productivity. Pissarides questioned claims by NVIDIA CEO Jensen
Huang and OpenAI founder Altman about widespread employment disruption, while
allowing AI could deliver some gains; he remains skeptical it will replicate the
1980s–1990s computer-driven surge. Weak performance in Western economies,
Especially Europe, will make policy trade-offs more difficult.
