'Jobs, jobs, jobs' the AI mantra as fears take back seat in Davos

By Jeffrey Dastin

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Biting cold, political tensions and doubts about artificial intelligence did nothing to curb the enthusiasm of business leaders in Davos over technology's ability to create jobs.

Top executives at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting said that while jobs would disappear, new ones would spring up, with ​two telling Reuters that AI would be used as an excuse by companies which were planning layoffs anyway.

Flag bearers of AI's trillion-dollar expansion, including chip titan Jensen Huang, ‌said the technology heralded higher pay and more jobs for plumbers, electricians and steelworkers.

"Energy is creating jobs. Chips industry is creating jobs. The infrastructure layer is creating jobs," the Nvidia CEO told the meeting in the Swiss mountain resort.

"Jobs, jobs, ‌jobs," added Huang.

That optimism contrasted with a potential trade row that had reverberated through Davos until U.S. President Donald Trump struck a deal to call off tariffs and avert a security decoupling with Europe over Greenland.

But scepticism over AI simmered below the surface.

Delegates discussed how chatbots could lead consumers to psychosis and suicide, while labour union leaders questioned the cost of recent technology gains.

"AI is being sold as a productivity tool, which often means doing more with fewer workers," said Christy Hoffman, general secretary of the 20-million-strong UNI Global Union.

TOWARD RETURNS

Matthew Prince, CEO of internet security company Cloudflare, said during an interview ⁠with Reuters in a mountain restaurant above Davos that AI would ‌keep advancing and that scrappy developers could overcome market or funding blips.

Prince, who said he sticks to six-minute chair-lift meetings rather than windowless conference rooms during Davos, warned that AI could become so dominant in the future that small businesses are eviscerated while autonomous agents handle consumers' shopping requests.

In recent years, ‍businesses have griped about how to go beyond ill-fated AI pilots and capitalize on an AI craze started by ChatGPT in 2022.

Rob Thomas, IBM's chief commercial officer, said AI has now reached a stage where there can be a return on investment.

"You can truly start to automate tasks and business processes," he told Reuters.

However, PwC said only one in eight CEOs recently surveyed by the advisory firm believed AI was lowering costs ​and delivering more elusive revenue. And questions remain about what business model can make up for AI's enormous expenses.