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Researchers warn generative AI could add $43 billion annually to America’s already stark racial wealth gap over the next two decades, with Black workers also facing a higher risk of job loss thanks to automation.
Why it matters: The wealth gap between Black households and white households has widened since 1980 in the U.S., where the median white household now has $285,000 in wealth, compared to $45,000 for the median Black household.
Driving the news: Researchers from McKinsey conclude in a new report shared with Axios that AI threatens to automate half of all jobs that don’t require a 4-year degree and that pay over $42,000 a year, which they define as the threshold for building wealth.
- The researchers concluded that the workers most at risk are in office support, production (e.g. machinists) and food services — all categories where Black workers are overrepresented and which many workers often use as stepping stones to higher-skill, higher-wage roles.