Brace for wealth inequality to explode as AI, robotics expand, Ray Dalio warns

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, has warned about the future impact of AI and humanoid robots. According to him, a serious spike in wealth inequality will necessitate a new redistribution policy. 

In an interview on “The Diary Of A CEO” podcast, Ray Dalio explained his concerns, suggesting that these advanced technologies are meant to benefit the top 1% to 10% of the population significantly more than everyone else. This could potentially lead to profound societal challenges.

With the top 1% to 10% “benefiting a lot,” he foresees that being a dividing force. He described the current business climate on AI and robotics as a “crazy boom.” To that end, the founder of the biggest hedge fund in history said that redistribution will be very important, which may come as a surprise.

Ray Dalio says that AI  could render many current professions obsolete 

Dalio also brought up the scariest conversation about AI taking up jobs. He described a future where humanoid robots, smarter than humans, and advanced AI systems, powered by trillions of dollars in investment, could render many current professions obsolete. 

He questioned the need for lawyers, accountants, and medical professionals if highly intelligent robots with PhD-level knowledge become commonplace. He noted, “We will not need a lot of those jobs […] why would you need even a highly skilled professional if there’s a “humanoid robot that is smarter than all of us and has a PhD and everything.” 

According to him, the bad outweighs the good. While promising great advances, the technological leap also carries the potential for great conflicts.

Ray Dalio told Steve Bartlett that the shift will have to be more than just a redistribution of money policy because underutilization and money may not be a great combination. According to him, if one redistributes money but doesn’t think about how to put people to work, it could have negative effects in a world of autonomous agents. 

Roman Yampolskiy, a professor of computer science, agrees with Ray Dalio that AI will give most people up to 80 hours of free time a week. But it’s also clear that AI is making it harder for recent college graduates to find work. 

One study found that jobs that involve AI have dropped by 13% since 2022. Many changes made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that AI has started taking away tech jobs.

From the job report seen by Cryptopolitan this week, data from recent months have also shown that the job market is weak. In June, July, and August, the average monthly payroll growth was only 29,000, which is well below the level needed to keep the unemployment rate stable. 

The biggest drops were in leisure and hospitality (-176,000), professional and business services (-158,000), and retail trade (-126,200). Most sectors saw decreases, but transportation, warehousing, and utilities saw small gains. Most of the changes were in the private sector; government jobs were cut by 31,000. 

AI stocks are up, but Goldman Sachs expects a bear market soon

Investors who have put all their funds in AI investments would not like Ray Dalio’s pessimistic outlook. For instance, C3.ai introduced its next generation of robotic process automation on Tuesday, powered by the C3 Agentic AI Platform.

This has resulted in a bull rally where its shares rose 6% over the week. Also, the Nebius-Microsoft deal sparked a rally in AI-focused mining stocks on Tuesday, adding to momentum from the broader AI movement.

However, Goldman Sachs US equity strategist Ryan Hammond warned that AI investment as a percentage of capital expenditures could be nearing a climax. In turn, that sets the stage for overly upbeat AI investors to be let down if earnings don’t come in strongly in future quarters.

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