The promise of generative AI to create new economic opportunities and career trajectories has been the subject of discussion in Silicon Valley, such as the recently coveted solitary unicorn startup.

The potential of AI to increase GDP has been emphasized by banks and analysts. However, it is improbable that these advantages will be distributed equitably in light of the pervasive employment loss that many anticipate as a result of AI.

In light of this, Anthropic announced the launch of its Economic Futures Program on Friday.

This initiative is designed to facilitate research on the effects of AI on the global economy and labor market, as well as to generate policy proposals to prepare for the transition.

“Everyone is inquiring about the economic implications of AI, both positive and negative,” stated Sarah Heck, the chief of policy programs and partnerships at Anthropic, in an interview with TechCrunch.

It is crucial to establish these discussions on the basis of evidence and refrain from assuming predetermined outcomes or preconceived notions about what will transpire.

Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, has expressed his perspective on the prospective economic impact of AI. Amodei predicted in May that AI could eliminate 50 percent of all entry-level white-collar positions and increase unemployment to as high as 20% within the next one to five years.

Heck was cautious when asked if one of the primary objectives of Anthropic’s Economic Futures Program was to investigate methods to reduce job loss caused by AI. He noted that the disruptive changes that AI will bring could be “both good and bad.”

“I believe the primary objective is to ascertain the true nature of the situation,” she stated.

“We should convene a collective group of thinkers to discuss mitigation if there is job loss. Great if there is a substantial increase in the gross domestic product.”

“Additionally, it would be beneficial to include policymakers in the discussion to determine the appropriate course of action. I am of the opinion that none of this will be a monolith.”

The program is based on Anthropic’s current Economic Index, which was introduced in February.

This index open-sources aggregated, anonymized data to analyze the effects of AI on labor markets and the economy over time.

This data is often kept behind corporate barriers by many of its competitors.

The program will concentrate on three primary areas: the provision of grants to researchers who are studying the impact of AI on labor, productivity, and value creation; the establishment of forums to develop and evaluate policy proposals in anticipation of AI’s economic potential; and the development of datasets to monitor the economic usage and impact of AI.

Anthropic is initiating the program with a set of action items.

Applications for its swift grants of up to $50,000 for “empirical research on AI’s economic impacts” and evidence-based policy proposals for Anthropic-hosted symposia events in Washington, D.C. have been opened by the company and Europe in the autumn.

Additionally, Anthropic is in pursuit of partnerships with independent research institutions. If successful, collaborators will receive Claude API credits and other resources to facilitate research.

Heck stated that Anthropic is seeking individuals, academicians, or teams who can generate high-quality data in a brief amount of time for the grants.

She stated, “Our objective is to finalize it within six months.” “Peer review is not required.”

Heck stated that Anthropic is interested in policy proposals from a diverse range of intellectual perspectives and backgrounds for the symposia. She observed that the policy proposals would extend beyond the realm of labor.

“We are interested in gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the transitions,” she stated.

“In what new ways do workflows occur?” What methods are being employed to generate novel employment opportunities that have never been considered before? Why are certain talents still considered essential, while others are not?”
Heck also expressed that Anthropic intends to investigate the impact of AI on fiscal policy.

For instance, what would be the consequences of a significant change in the perspective of enterprises regarding value creation?
“We are truly interested in expanding the scope of what is observable,” Heck stated. “Labor is certainly one of them, but it’s a much broader swath.”

Anthropic rival OpenAI released its own Economic Blueprint in January, which focuses more on helping the public adopt AI tools, building robust AI infrastructure and establishing “AI economic zones” that streamline regulations to promote investment.

While OpenAI’s Stargate project to build data centers across the U.S. in partnership with Oracle and SoftBank would create thousands of construction jobs, OpenAI doesn’t directly address AI-related job loss in its economic blueprint.

OpenAI’s blueprint does, however, outline frameworks where government could play a role in supply chain training pipelines, investing in AI literacy, supporting regional training programs, and scaling public university access to compute to foster local AI-literate workforces.

Anthropic’s economic impact program is part of a slow but growing shift among some tech companies to position themselves as part of the solution to the disruption they’re helping to create – whether out of reputational concern, genuine altruism, or a mix of both.

For instance, on Thursday, ride-hail company Lyft launched a forum to gather input from human drivers as it starts integrating robotaxis into its p.