- JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon urges early preparation for potential job displacement due to AI technology
- JPMorgan Chase uses AI and built a large language model for 150,000 employees
- Dimon cites US truck drivers as an example of the social impact of job loss from AI
Start preparing for potential job displacement caused by artificial intelligence (AI) without delay, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has warned.
Speaking at an investor cocktail event, Dimon said people should not wait until jobs are actually lost to take action. He clarified that he was not predicting that job losses would definitely happen. However, he cautioned that if AI does lead to workforce disruption, it could become a serious issue.
"I was talking about the business and government, and they should start thinking today, not when it happens, what would we do to deal with the [AI] issue? It's got to be business and government," he said.
Dimon further mentioned that his bank already embedded AI in its operations and was transforming how work got done. He revealed that the bank built its own large language model (LLM), currently used by about 1.5 lakh employees.
He said employees believe the tool was helping them save four hours a day; however, he clarified that the bank did not directly translate those time savings into financial metrics such as net present value (NPV), nor did it immediately view them as a way to reduce headcount.
Instead, he described AI as a technology that gradually becomes integrated into everyday processes.
"We don't see the 4 hours a day in terms of reduced headcount like that. We look at all of it, and it's deeply embedded in what we do, and that's true for all tech projects. I think the hardest thing to measure has always been tech projects," he continued.
Dimon said this uncertainty around measurement is not new, as he has seen major technological shifts throughout his career. "It's also been true my whole life that tech is what changes everything. You know, like everything. Going to mainframes, going to servers, going to speed," he added.
To explain the risks of rapid AI adoption, he cited an example of commercial truck drivers in the US.
He said there are around 2 million truck drivers in the country and asked people to imagine a situation where technology could replace all of them. He believed it could bring several benefits, such as lower fuel costs, fewer accidents and faster traffic congestion, but it also raises a bigger question about their livelihood.
He stressed that if those 2 million drivers, who earn around $120,000 on average, suddenly lost their jobs and were forced to take much lower-paying work, such as jobs earning $25,000 a year, it would devastate their financial security. "That's kind of really bad, kind of civilly, should we as society agree to that?" he quipped.
Dimon said the solution to AI-driven job disruption is not to stop technology altogether, but to introduce changes gradually so that people and institutions have time to adjust.
This is not the first time Dimon has raised this concern related to AI development. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, he warned that AI's impact on jobs could move "too fast for society," according to Fortune.
