AI could rebuild the middle class, or in the worst-case scenario 'we use AI to kill each other,' says labor economist

• The rise of AI is coupled with concerns about how the technology will impact the workforce. 
• Labor economist David Autor told NPR he believes AI could revitalize the middle class.
• Autor said he's more concerned that AI could spread misinformation and create weapons.

As AI and chatbots like ChatGPT have gained steam, so have public concerns about what the new technology means for the future of the workforce. 

While some reports have decried these new AI models could replace workers, labor economist and MIT professor David Autor has a more positive outlook: He believes AI could revitalize the middle class, he recently told NPR's Planet Money.

This is, in part, because this current AI wave is different from earlier technology booms, he said. Previously, the personal computer age hurt workers in less-skilled and non-college educated fields, Autor noted. But this new wave of AI is likely to do the opposite: the technology could hit white collar and college-educated workers the hardest.

AI could actually help lower-skilled workers excel in their roles. A recent study, for example, found lower-skilled customer service representatives who were paired with an AI chatbot experienced improvements in their productivity. In contrast, more highly-skilled workers saw a "close to 0%" boost in productivity, the study's author said. More anecdotally, one CEO who bought ChatGPT Plus for his employees said he saw boosts in their productivity.

"The good scenario is one where AI makes elite expertise cheaper and more accessible," Autor told NPR. "All of a sudden, these workers can summarize the literature, write a decent document, organize a schedule, do medical analysis, design a product, figure out a route, maybe even fly a plane."

Autor declined to provide any additional comment to Insider.

Despite forecasts, Autor said that human capabilities still surpass AI in many ways — noting that humans are better at relating to others and at channeling creativity.

"First of all, we live in the physical world, which most machines do not," Autor told NPR. "There's all kinds of things that we can do with our hands and our bodies and our faces, and so that machines are not at the moment doing."

The worst-case scenario

While concerns about AI impacting the workforce may be front of mind for many workers, Autor told NPR's Planet Money that he's mainly concerned about how AI, wielded by the wrong hands, could lead to the spread of misinformation, the creation of weapons, and security threats. 

"In my mind, I actually think the irony is that the labor market is the least scary part of this at the moment," Autor told NPR. "I'm actually much more scared about the impact of AI on everything else."

Autor also said, in a worst-case scenario, "we use AI to kill each other" — echoing similar warnings from other researchers.