Those losing out are vast swaths of Americans, particularly recent college graduates who are struggling to find a job; low-income Americans who continue to rack up debt as they feel the sting of higher inflation; and even workers in creative industries, according to Pastor.
“What people put on the internet or put into books is being privatized by these AI companies, making it more difficult for those same people to make money,” he said. “That’s happening to people who are authors, to people who are musicians, anyone who is a creative.”
The AI hype is also skewing the health of Main Street businesses.
“If you exclude AI, business investment would be actually falling, which is quite unprecedented outside of recessions,” said Maxime Darmet, senior economist at Allianz Trade. “The technology is powerful in propping up the economy, but at the same time, there’s a lot of spending being cut in more traditional areas.”
Meanwhile, the gap between the broader AI-fueled economic growth and the lived reality for millions of Americans continues to widen.
“The inequalities here are very, very stark,” Xavier said of San Francisco. “It’s been an issue for a long time, and I think it’s just continuing to be an issue.”
VOCABULARY & PHRASES
- losing out: 成為輸家的人；競爭中落敗的人
- vast swaths of: 一大片；非常廣泛的
- rack up debt: 累加債務
- sting: 刺痛
they feel the sting of higher inflation.
他們感受到高通膨的切身之痛。 - privatize: 使私有化
- AI hype: AI熱潮
- skew: 歪曲；扭曲
The AI hype is also skewing the health of Main Street businesses.
這股AI熱潮也正在扭曲傳統中小實體行業的健全。 - Main Street businesses: 與華爾街(Wall Street)相對，指的是「社區中小型企業」、「實體店面」、「傳統商業」
- unprecedented [ʌnˈpresɪdentɪd]: 史無前例的
The inflation rate reached an unprecedented level.
通膨率達到一個史無前例的水準 - recession: 衰退
- prop up: 撐起；扶持
The technology is powerful in propping up the economy. - broader economic: 宏觀經濟
- the lived reality: 真實的生活狀況
- stark: 赤裸裸的；嚴酷的；鮮明的；無情的
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