Terms and Conditions

Please read these conditions carefully before using this site. By using this site, you signify your assent to the following terms and conditions of use without limitation or qualification. In particular, you consent to the use of all cookies on this website for the purposes described in the terms of use. If you do not agree to these terms or to the use of cookies as described below, do not use this site. AllianceBernstein may at any time revise these terms of use. You are bound by any such revisions and should therefore periodically visit this page to review the then current terms of use to which you are bound. This site is for informational purposes and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security which may be referenced herein.

Terms Of Use

This site is solely intended for use by professional/institutional investors and institutional-investment industry consultants.

Do you wish to continue?

menu
 

The Challenge to Investors

The Impact and Broader Implications of AI

 

Challenge Overview

In this video, Inigo Fraser-Jenkins discusses why the impact and implications of AI is one of the challenges identified in The Book 2025 Edition.

In a future that’s likely to face headwinds to economic growth, the potential benefits from adopting AI fuels hope for a more positive path by unleashing a steam-engine-like impact.

It might also enable corporate profit margins to rise even further. But AI also brings the risk of greater inequality, a question of what the future of democracy is in a world where most internet content is not human-generated, and greater risk around geopolitical standoffs.

To keep overall growth constant, though, the boost from AI-powered productivity would need to be at the top end of historical increases. A big unknown with AI is its impact on the workplace and the future of jobs. Optimists point to 200 years of technological advances with still no structural unemployment. Pessimists point to the uneven sharing of benefits from these advances and the long time it can take for real earnings to improve.

When it comes to the way capitalism functions and interacts with democracy itself, does the onset of AI imply that there will be an even wider gap between the winners and losers in society? If so, what does this growing gap mean for the functioning of democracy?

Current analysis does not guarantee future results.
As of January 16, 2025
Source: Daron Acemoglu, The Simple Macroeconomics of AI (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2024); and AB

What Is The Book?

The Book is an annual collection of thought-provoking strategic research and thought leadership from AB’s Institutional Solutions team. With a long history of taking on asset owners’ most pressing issues, the team zeroes in on themes and trends that will shape the macro, market and investment-industry landscape over the medium to long term. The team have been publishing Books on the strategic outlook for a decade.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BOOK

Explore the 2025 Edition

 


Webcast Replay: Exploring The Book 2025 Edition

Recorded Tuesday 24 June

Hear Inigo Fraser Jenkins and Alla Harmsworth as they discuss the five challenges identified in the latest edition of The Book, and the responses they are seeing for investors.

LISTEN NOW

Explore Other Challenges from The Book

Higher Inflation

The future likely holds higher inflation, so investors will need to put more weight on maintaining purchasing power.

This point is highly relevant, given questions about long-term public-debt sustainability and the temptation to use inflation as a relief valve.

EXPLORE TOPIC
Debt Burdens

The government debt burden across G7 economies has returned to its lofty heights at the end of WWII, mainly to keep consumers happy.

The cost of servicing that debt is growing, and letting inflation run hotter might be the easiest political way out of the problem.

EXPLORE TOPIC
Climate Change

The energy transition seems to be going more slowly than initially hoped. As it stands, it may not meet the current expectations for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This creates additional uncertainties for investors.

EXPLORE TOPIC
Geopolitics

Markets struggle to price the risks from geopolitics, adding another layer of uncertainty to investment plans. With geopolitical dynamics shifting, investors must take a broader view of potential future scenarios.

EXPLORE TOPIC
© 2025 AllianceBernstein L.P.