Artificial intelligence could upend global labor markets and shift economic power toward landowners and commodity owners, according to experts exploring long-term scenarios related to rapid advances in automation.
Analysts say that if machines become more capable than humans in most tasks, wages could fall below the cost of operating robots, pushing workers into low-wage or specialized roles.
At the same time, the price drops caused by artificial intelligence could increase real income, although the extent of that benefit remains unclear.
In a world flooded with cheap labor from artificial intelligence, the most valuable assets may be those that remain scarce, such as land and raw materials.
This could mean that commodity producers and property owners will see significant gains.
In an era of artificial intelligence abundance, so-called 'fixed factors of production' will achieve the highest returns," said BCA Research analysts.
BCA Research analysts also raise concerns about the long-term safety of advanced artificial intelligence systems, including scenarios of a collapse of human control over increasingly powerful machines.
They give a high probability of extreme outcomes but provide little in terms of specific timelines or triggers.
While such forecasts are considered highly speculative, BCA likens the potential economic shift to previous industrial revolutions.
They argue that the scale of change could be historic, but they warn that the benefits and risks are likely to be distributed unevenly.