The IMF warned AI is hitting labor markets like a "slow-moving tsunami," a survey found 85% of family offices chasing AI returns despite bubble fears, and TikTok's CEO predicted major scientific breakthroughs within three years.
Artificial intelligence dominated economic and investment discussions on Monday, as the International Monetary Fund warned of sweeping labor-market disruption, a new survey found wealthy family offices torn between enthusiasm and bubble fears, and TikTok's chief executive predicted transformative scientific advances within three years.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, speaking at a panel in Singapore, described AI as hitting the global labor market like a "slow-moving tsunami," with young graduates bearing the brunt of early displacement.
"People to worry about, first and foremost, [are] young people that are coming into the labor market," Georgieva said. "Normally, they would get into these routine, repetitive jobs and then grow up the ranks. But if they're gone, I don't think any young person wants to be a barista in a coffee shop as ... professional future."
The IMF estimates roughly 40% of jobs worldwide will eventually be "augmented, downgraded or eliminated." Exposure is approximately 60% in advanced economies and 23% in low-income countries — though Georgieva cautioned that lower exposure in poorer nations reflects AI adoption lag rather than resilience.
Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who co-chairs the World Bank's Jobs Council, called on governments to treat pandemic-era employment support tools as permanent structural policy rather than emergency measures. He argued that incentivizing firms to hire fresh graduates is now essential because "the first rung in employment, your first job upon graduation, is now seeing less demand."
World Bank President Ajay Banga estimated that 1.2 billion young people will turn 18 over the next 15 years. The private sector, which already generates 75% to 85% of jobs in any given country, will need to absorb most of them, he said, with governments responsible for building infrastructure and lowering risks that deter private investors. "It is private capital that creates jobs," Banga said.
Despite the labor warnings, Georgieva noted AI has also been propping up global growth, with AI-related investments helping keep global expansion near 3% this year amid an energy supply shock. She estimated AI adoption could lift output by 0.5 to 1 percentage point in advanced Asia and 0.2 to 0.8 percentage point in emerging Asia.
Shanmugaratnam cautioned that growth alone may not translate into job creation, pointing to China, India, and developing Southeast Asia as economies growing well but with weak employment gains.
The anxiety about AI's labor-market effects has not dampened investor appetite — at least not in the short term. A survey of 155 North American family offices, conducted by RBC Wealth Management and Campden Wealth, found that 85% of respondents ranked AI as their top investment theme, even as 75% expected an AI bubble to burst within the next five years.
Bill Ringham, director of private wealth strategies at RBC, attributed the tension to fear of missing out. "Even patient capital can be caught up in the fear of missing out," he said. He noted that while AI was the top investment theme for 2026 at 59%, family offices were more bullish on U.S. equities over a two-to-five-year horizon, with 69% selecting equities versus 64% for AI. "Fear of missing out is a short-term view," Ringham said.
The same survey found 76% of family offices identified "excessive government borrowing" as the top market risk over the next five years, followed by "AI investment bubble burst" at 75% and "AI advancements impact employment" at 66%.
Meanwhile, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew struck a more optimistic note at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore, predicting that AI would produce scientific breakthroughs in physics, biotech, chemistry, and material science within two to three years. "It's very, very, very possible," he said.
Chew acknowledged that AI's near-term impact may be overstated while its long-term potential is underappreciated, a view he paired with warnings about rising cybersecurity risks as autonomous AI agents gain broader permissions. "The cybersecurity risks are quite big," he said.
His remarks came days after the U.S. government, Meta, and Google announced participation in a $1.8 billion initiative to develop AI models capable of predicting cellular behavior — underscoring how quickly institutional capital is flowing into AI-driven scientific research, even as labor economists and policymakers scramble to map the human costs.
Jay Goldberg is a staff writer at TechEchelon covering technology, markets, and policy. He files the breaking news and deal coverage that move the publication's core desks.
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