John Hope Bryant Discusses AI-Driven Job Displacement Impact At CNBC’s ‘Converge Live’ Panel

Bryant labeled AI changes as “a complete do-over of society.”

John Hope Bryant, CEO of Operation HOPE, took a deep dive into the ways artificial intelligence (AI) is affecting the American workforce during a panel discussion at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE event in Singapore.

As CNBC’s premier global forum, the event brings top executives, policymakers, and thought leaders together to discuss some of today’s most pressing issues that are labeled as shapers of business and the economy. Bryant led the discussion for the session titled “The Future of Work in the Age of AI.” Moderated by CNBC’s Julia Boorstin, Bryant was in good company with fellow industry leaders, including President of Leasing, North America, Newmark, Elizabeth Hart, and Peta Latimer, President of Mercer Asia.

The group talked about how AI’s growth is causing implications on employment and economic structures, in particular, employees with limited access to career development opportunities. “We are not spending nearly enough time focusing on the bottom of the pyramid,” Bryant said.

“Convenience store jobs are gone, grocery store jobs are gone—this is not the future; this is right now.”

According to CNBC, the financial literacy and economic empowerment nonprofit leader claimed AI will create waves of change, calling it “a complete do-over of society.” He warned about how AI will affect those who don’t have education past high school — unless something is done about it. “So if you have a high school education and limited relationship capital, and you don’t have a government and a private sector that’s prioritizing [upskilling its people on AI] … in five years between 2025 to 2030, the world’s going to pass you by,” Bryant said.

As AI is leading the way in industries like infrastructure, data centers, and automation being reshaped, Bryant feels certain policies need to be in place to balance things out. During the session, he highlighted a case study from Singapore on how investing in human capital resulted in growth throughout the country and called on U.S. leaders to take a chance and do the same. “This approach transformed the country into an economic powerhouse,” he said.

“The U.S. and other nations must take similar steps to grow their economies by prioritizing workforce training.”

Bryant recommended certain policies like tax incentives toward apprenticeships, financial literacy education, and AI workforce training in order to teach people how to properly use AI. As a result, employment rates could accelerate and would address the class divide that America has, making it more difficult for the working and middle classes to “climb up the ladder.” “The problem we have today is you have all this wealth where money is creating more money — and money creating more money is more valuable than labor creating more money,” Bryant said.