The workforce is aging, with baby boomers retiring faster than new workers are entering the job market. This raises concerns about who will fill the gap left by the retiring population. Some predict that artificial intelligence (AI), which is rapidly being integrated into the workforce, might serve as a substitute for human workers.

Watch the video above as Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan explores AI’s impact on the aging workforce and examines whether this technology can effectively replace it.

Excerpted from Peter’s July 31 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:

As the baby boomers age into retirement and Gen Z fails to satisfy the gaping hole left in the labor market, will artificial intelligence be able to help mitigate some of the fallout?

AI has solidified its spot in the labor mix of the future, but “when?” and “how?” are the looming questions. Producing AI-capable chips remains highly complex and reliant upon a web of critical international suppliers. Until that supply chain is slimmed down and fail-safes are added, production disruptions will continue to be a huge factor in limiting the AI buildout.

On the other front, the nature of AI lends itself to better take on white-collar work. Most people picture AI taking care of the manual and mundane tasks no one wants, but it is better suited to a lifestyle “in the office.” So, the places we need the help most, like blue-collar jobs, won’t get much help on the AI front.

AI’s transformative effect is coming, but it won’t occur as quickly as many expect. Think in the 40s rather than the 20s. When it does arrive, the productivity in white-collar jobs will skyrocket, but fields that really need some extra hands (or hand effectors or whatever you call robots’ metaphorical gripping mechanisms) will still be scrambling to navigate the labor shortages.

This video was recorded in mid-July, prior to Peter departing on his backpacking trip.