AI may be creating instead of destroying jobs for now, blog says

FRANKFURT - The increasing use of artificial intelligence by firms may be creating some jobs in the euro zone rather than destroying them as many fear, a European Central Bank blog post argued on Wednesday.

Economists have been debating whether AI could put white collar staff out of work, and a recent study by Germany's Ifo Institute found that more than a quarter of German firms expect AI to lead to job cuts in the next five years.

But the ECB's own Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises found that companies making significant use of AI are more likely to take on additional staff in the near term.

"In other words, AI-intensive firms tend, on average, to hire rather than fire," the blog post, which is not necessarily the view of the ECB, said.

Firms planning to invest in AI are also more likely to have positive expectations for future employment growth, the blog argued.

"This is true regardless of the level of planned AI investment and suggests that a pause in hiring due to investment in AI technology is also unlikely over the next year," the blog, written by two ECB staff economists, said.

However, the outlook may change on the longer horizon, the authors said. Most of the gloomier surveys cover longer horizons than the ECB's own question and the outlook could change once AI starts to significantly transform production processes.

-Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Andrew Heavens/Reuters