There is emerging consensus among the experts working in the area that the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) poses real dangers for humanity. Historians start their assessment of what AI could do by going back several centuries. Before 1700, the world economy increased on average at the rate of 8 per cent a century. Over the next 300 years, the Industrial Revolution reshaped the global economy, moving it from basically agricultural to the one in which manufacturing played a greater role. With this change in place, growth averaged 350 per cent a century. Higher growth had demographic consequences. There were declines in both death and birth rates. This boosted living standards with income per head of the population increasing steadily at 2 per cent a year. Eventually more developed countries had ageing and declining populations.

AI will overcome this demographic challenge. There is possibility of a second explosion of economic growth with the development of AI bringing about technological advance without human involvement. According to a projection by Epoch AI, a bullish think-tank, once AI can carry out 30 per cent of tasks done at this time by human beings, annual growth rate could exceed 30 per cent. AI would result in workers' wages at the lower end of income distribution scale to decline. At the same time the owners of capital — especially those who have invested in AI — will see a sharp increase in their incomes. The overall result will be to increase the income divide. This will result in........

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