AI could enable 3.5 day week for employees - JP Morgan CEO

JP Morgan & Co. Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon states that he believes AI will create a 3.5 day working week moving forward.

Dimon says that AI is already being used by thousands of employees at his bank, and is likely to make dramatic improvements in workers’ quality of life, even if it eliminates some jobs.

Surveys published throughout 2023 have been indicating that the majority of employees believe that AI will replace their job, or much of their job role, by 2033. Whilst the role of AI is widely viewed as key to business development moving forward, it is clear that there are still workplace anxieties about how widely used these digital tools will be.

AI vs. human workforce: striking the right balance

JP Morgan is the largest bank in the United States and the world's largest bank by market capitalisation (as of 2023). Dimon indicates in the above interview with Bloomberg that he currently has a team of experts investigating AI and that the company is already using AI to do the majority of its equity hedging.

Dimon also describes AI as a “living breathing thing” that can be utilised to affect real positive changes within a business. Forbes reported that, in Dimon’s April 2023 shareholder letter, Dimon called AI “critical to our company’s future success” and devoted an entire section of the letter to the new technology. He also stated that JP Morgan had already found more than 300 use cases for AI.

He also says that AI is “of course” going to replace some jobs, or make jobs obsolete, but also states that “technology has always replaced jobs.”

AI is being used to varying degrees worldwide and, despite employers and workers still having divided opinions, the majority seem to be voting in favour of these digital tools. Recent reports indicate that nearly three-quarters (71%) of financial services CEOs say AI is already being used within their strategy operations, yet nearly two-thirds (63%) remain cautious of possible consequences.

In contrast, 49% of employees believe AI should be adopted, with 13% concerned about its impact, according to a survey conducted by Hays. Close to a third of employees have also stated that they do not have the right skills to make the best use of machine learning technology, suggesting a dichotomy between employers and employees when it comes to AI technologies.

Less work, more play?

Dimon also added that AI and large language models (LLMs) can also offer huge opportunities to improve living standards, using the advance of technology to our advantage. 

He makes somewhat of a bold claim that “your children are going to live to 100 and not have cancer because of technology … they’ll probably be working three-and-a-half days a week.”

Technology does indeed have huge potential to change working culture - especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Magnus Falk, CIO at Zoom, told our sister publication Technology Magazine in January 2023: “By providing a flexible working culture built on trust, with technology that supports employees at its core, businesses can retain and attract the top talent, and set the standard for how employees want to work.”

However, Dimon does not shy away from negative opinions of AI technology, alluding to ‘cyber warfare’ as a current challenge. This ultimately alludes to the rise of deepfake technology, so-called ‘bad actors’ utilising AI for unethical practices and also the Russo-Ukraine conflict that has seen high levels of digital hacking. 

From Dimon’s comments, it is clear that AI can be used for good - but only if everyone is on board.

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