Nobel economist Daron Acemoglu warns AI could triple unemployment in a decade, replacing far more workers than it employs

Nobel economist Daron Acemoglu told 60 Minutes that AI will replace far more workers than it employs, and that unemployment could triple in a decade. Acemoglu, the MIT economist who shares the 2024 Nobel prize and studies how technology affects work, does not expect AI to create more jobs than it destroys on the current path. Asked about the claim that there will be more jobs in ten years than today, he answered: "No. No, not on our current trajectory. I don't see how that could happen." He called the pace "unprecedented": the first phase of the Industrial Revolution took 80 years, he said, while AI's is "taking place in one or two years, and it's taking place across many sectors at the same time." Told that people who lose jobs could find work training AI models, he dismissed the idea, saying the number of people employed that way "is small relative to the number of people who will be replaced. I mean, that's the whole point of automation." The programme, broadcast on 4 October 2026, reports that he says unemployment could triple over the next decade if nothing changes. Acemoglu said he is "very, very, very cautious" about rejecting the technology, and argued instead for AI designed to make people more productive rather than expendable and for a tax code that rewards hiring people. He is an academic, not an employer, so this is a forecast of AI job losses, not a reported job cut, and nothing in it adds to the AI layoffs count on this site.