Part 5/10:
This concern is compounded by rising unemployment rates among recent college graduates, jumping from 5.8% to 6.6% this year alone. Such trends raise questions about the value of traditional education pathways and whether they adequately prepare workers for a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
AI's Dual Role: Augmentation and Displacement
Powell recognized that AI holds enormous potential to increase productivity but simultaneously warned of its capacity to displace jobs—a double-edged sword. The challenge for policymakers and business leaders is to understand how big and how fast these impacts will be. As Powell pointed out, "it’s hard to say how big AI is in the economy right now," which underscores the uncertainty that pervades current economic outlooks.