Artificial intelligence could disrupt jobs across nearly every American community, threatening not only workers' incomes but also their sense of identity, purpose and belonging, former Meta and Salesforce AI executive Clara Shih has warned.
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Shih highlighted the broader social and psychological consequences of AI-driven job displacement.
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While the future remains uncertain, former Shih foresees three emerging job categories- those who build AI, those who utilise AI, and those managed by AI.
"When I sit down with friends of mine who have been laid off, and or who just graduated from school and have been searching for a year or more, usually money is the second thing that they bring up," said Shih.
"The first thing that they talk about is how they no longer feel useful to their families, to their communities. And that's very psychologically damaging," she added.
AI Disruption Could Extend Beyond Technology Hubs
Unlike the decline of manufacturing, which disproportionately affected industrial communities in America's Rust Belt, AI-driven disruption could spread across a much wider geographical area.
Shih pointed to cities such as Akron and Cleveland as examples of communities affected by the economic consequences of globalisation. Although international trade and globalisation generated growth and benefited consumers, their gains were not distributed equally, leaving some workers and communities struggling to adapt.
She warned, "The manufacturing shock, as devastating as it was for the Rust Belt, it was limited to the Rust Belt. What AI is doing to knowledge work affects pretty much every community in America, and it's happening at a much faster, on a much faster timeline."
However, she cautioned that the benefits of AI may not reach all workers and communities equally.
Shih said “AI was so much more capable just right out of the gate than a lot of people that we could hire out of school. And so we changed our hiring,”
Call for Coordinated Action
Shih urged governments, businesses and nonprofit organisations to work together to manage the transition and support people affected by technological change. She founded the New Work Foundation to help young people navigate the evolving employment landscape.
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Beyond retraining and financial assistance, she argued, society may also need to reconsider how people find meaning and purpose if traditional employment opportunities decline.
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