Bridgewater’s Greg Jensen warns AI boom could require fatalities before society takes risks seriously

Greg Jensen, co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates, delivered one of the bleakest assessments of the AI boom yet. Speaking on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast on September 11, Jensen argued that society is unlikely to meaningfully address the risks of artificial intelligence until something genuinely catastrophic happens, potentially involving deaths. His analogy of choice: February 2020, the brief window when a handful of people were sounding alarms about a novel coronavirus while the rest of the world carried on booking flights. Jensen sees the AI moment in similar terms. Lots of warnings, very little urgency. The numbers behind the warning Jensen oversees Bridgewater’s AI strategy and lab, making him one of the most influential figures investing directly in the technology he’s cautioning against. Bridgewater’s own analysis forecasts that as much as 18% of US jobs could be displaced within five years due to AI advancements. To put that in perspective, the US labor force comprises roughly 160 million people. An 18% displacement rate would affect tens of millions of workers across industries. Jensen also flagged that AI-related capital expenditure has become responsible...