
The exponential advance of AI is materializing the most radical shift in the history of work. So far this year, more than 123,000 jobs have been cut by automation in the US, where AI is already the main argument behind corporate layoffs. Unlike previous cycles, this trend will not abate: the IMF estimates that at least 40% of global jobs are significantly exposed to AI. But there is another obsolescence that is not talked about and that could compromise the very viability of the Peruvian economy. If AI can make certain workers obsolete, could it also make countries obsolete?
The exponential advance of AI is materializing the most radical shift in the history of work. So far this year, more than 123,000 jobs have been cut by automation in the US, where AI is already the main argument behind corporate layoffs. Unlike previous cycles, this trend will not abate: the IMF estimates that at least 40% of global jobs are significantly exposed to AI. But there is another obsolescence that is not talked about and that could compromise the very viability of the Peruvian economy. If AI can make certain workers obsolete, could it also make countries obsolete?
Our economic matrix is primary-export: copper, gold and non-traditional agriculture are the pillars that support foreign exchange and the employment of millions of Peruvians. Our comparative advantage has always been the territory and what its geology and diverse climates made possible. However, AI has started to make them expendable. In seed engineering, for example, platforms such as SEEDesign from Inari Agriculture already combine AI with genomic editing to design crops with equivalent yields using 40% less water, in climates different from those of origin.
In materials science, DeepMind’s GNoME project identified 2.2 million new crystals, including conductors that could match or surpass copper. Northwestern and IBM have already identified with AI compounds capable of replacing it in nanocircuits. If Peru were a worker, would you be ready to add new skills to your resume? Better to discuss it before the future surprises us on the most precarious edge of an unbridgeable gap.
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