AI will reshape labor markets at 'a pace our institutions will struggle to match,' warns Malaysian premier
Anwar Ibrahim addresses G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa as guest
File Photo by Farid Bin Tajuddin
ISTANBUL
Malaysia’s prime minister warned the G20 countries that artificial intelligence (AI) will reshape labor markets at "a pace our institutions will struggle to match" during the G20 leaders' summit in Johannesburg, South Africa on Saturday.
"When policies are aligned and rules are predictable, shocks pass through with less damage. Resilience comes from common preparedness, not isolation," Anwar Ibrahim Anwar said, adding that this lesson matters, because "the next disruption" will likely be harder to bear.
"Artificial intelligence will reorganize labor markets at a pace our institutions will struggle to match without early investment in transitions. Workers, especially the young and women, will face these shifts alone," he said
The world has faced the consequences of being unprepared for globalization before, he said, noting that it led to stagnant wages, eroding trust, and the rise of politics that thrive on grievance.
"With AI, destabilization becomes a real risk if countries enter this transition unprepared,” he said, calling this “one of the defining challenges of our times.”
Anwar urged the countries to "equip their people, especially the young, for the speed of technological change," strengthen safety nets, and support small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs)
"Global resilience cannot be built on fiscal exhaustion," he said, adding that countries need the capacity to "invest ahead of disruption, not after" and multilateral development banks must be ready to deploy "more quickly and work closely with countries.”
Citing South Africa's and the African continent's past of enduring the "most dehumanizing aspect of apartheid and colonization," he said that the Global South countries expect the G20 to pursue an agenda "that is just and fair" and to be unequivocal in its “resolve to end the atrocities and colonization in Gaza and the civil strife in Sudan” and to “achieve an amicable resolution to the war in Ukraine."
Anwar is attending the two-day summit as a guest of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
