Sadiq Khan has warned that more than a million Londoners could lose their jobs to artificial intelligence in a bleak prediction of the future of work. The London Mayor said that a fifth of the capital's workforce was either highly or significantly exposed to the threat. This proportion is substantially higher than the risk to the rest of the country, according to a report he commissioned.
AI threat to London's workforce
In a speech on Tuesday at the Bloomberg CityLab Summit in Madrid, Khan is expected to warn that AI could cause 'significant damage' to the city's workforce. 'I want to be clear that a high degree of exposure to AI does not necessarily mean job losses,' he said. 'Our research indicates there's every chance that AI will augment and assist the Londoners working in these roles, rather than eliminating their jobs completely. But given the numbers of Londoners that are exposed – and the finding that 7% of large UK businesses have already used AI to cut staff – we cannot afford to be complacent.'
Khan published the report, entitled 'London's workforce exposure to generative artificial intelligence', on the same day he announced a taskforce to tackle the problem. The report reveals that more than 300,000 Londoners are 'highly exposed', with AI capable of doing a large share of their day-to-day work. A further 748,000 Londoners are deemed 'significantly exposed', with some of their jobs able to be automated by AI. Together, these two groups account for more than a million Londoners and more than a fifth of the city's workforce.
Wider implications
At least 46% of London's workers (around 2.4 million people) are in roles where AI could do a meaningful share of their tasks. This is substantially higher than the UK average of 38%, putting workers in the capital at greater risk. Those in administrative or clerical roles are most at risk of losing their jobs to AI, but those in white-collar occupations are also highly exposed. The UK generates much of its wealth from professional services, with plentiful jobs for bankers, lawyers and accountants. Much of this is concentrated in London, and the sector as a whole accounted for 81% of the UK's economic output last year. Some 83% of British workers work in services, the highest proportion of any large rich country – including the US, at 79%.
The report also found that women were overrepresented in administrative or clerical roles and so faced a greater threat. It found that there were some indications that employers were hiring fewer people in these roles, though this could also be a sign of a cooling labour market.
Taskforce to address AI impact
Khan pointed to studies cited in the report that show that AI could create more jobs than it destroys over the longer term. His taskforce, which will be headed by Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, a tech entrepreneur and co-founder of last.minute.com, will try to harness this potential. The group will also include members of the business community, trade unions, think tanks and representatives from the AI industry.
