DUBAI: At the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils, Dr. Erik Brynjolfsson, a Stanford professor, emphasized the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance job performance by taking over specific tasks rather than replacing entire jobs. According to Emirates News Agency, Dr. Brynjolfsson, the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Professor and Director of the Digital Economy Lab at Stanford University, spoke during a panel titled "Keeping AI on Track" at the meeting held at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. He explained that while AI is a transformative general purpose technology (GPT), similar in impact to the steam engine, its role should be seen as augmentative rather than wholly substitutive in the workforce. Dr. Brynjolfsson argued that each job comprises a bundle of tasks, some of which are more suited to AI intervention than others. By leveraging AI in specific areas, like image interpretation in radiology, professionals can focus on aspects of their roles that require human sensitivity, such as administering sedation. He cited the example of radiologists whose demand tripled from 2016 to 2022, despite initial fears that AI would reduce their necessity in healthcare. The professor presented data indicating that around 80 percent of the U.S. workforce will have at least 10 percent of their tasks impacted by AI, with 19 percent possibly seeing half of their tasks affected, particularly in high-paying professions like medical doctors. This shift underscores a significant opportunity for AI to enhance human capabilities rather than replace them. Dr. Brynjolfsson's insights also included a caution to CEOs and policymakers to focus on AI's potential to augment human capabilities rather than simply automate jobs. He called for preparedness among policymakers to manage the substantial business transformations that AI is expected to bring over the next decade. The UAE, hosting the annual meeting for the second consecutive year from October 15-17, sees the event as a precursor to the World Economic Forum 's Annual Meeting in Davos in January. The Global Future Councils, since their inception in 2008, have engaged over 12,000 participants from 100 countries in more than 900 councils, addressing major global trends.