The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, has said investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure is helping to sustain global economic growth at about three per cent, with Asian economies expected to record significant gains from the technology boom.
Georgieva said on Monday that the growing demand for AI infrastructure was creating fresh investment opportunities and boosting economic prospects for countries supplying the hardware needed to power the technology, including Thailand.
Speaking at the opening of the week-long IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, she said the investment boom could increase growth in advanced Asian economies by between 0.5 and one percentage point, while emerging Asian economies could experience gains of between 0.2 and 0.8 percentage points.
“AI, love it, hate it. It’s already here,” Georgieva said.
“That shift into higher gear is what is keeping the world economy growing at around 3%, despite the fact we are being dragged down by the energy supply shock,” she added.
The IMF had projected global economic growth of three per cent for 2026 in July. The organisation is expected to publish an updated economic outlook on Tuesday.
Beyond its economic benefits, Georgieva warned that artificial intelligence would significantly transform employment, education, economic growth and government revenue systems as businesses increasingly shift from human labour to capital investment.
She described AI as a “slow-moving tsunami” and said the technology could affect about 40 per cent of jobs worldwide over time, through changes that could enhance, downgrade or eliminate existing roles.
According to her, an initial study found that 10 per cent of jobs in the United States already required AI skills.
While routine and repetitive jobs were declining, employment in some lower-paying sectors, including construction and data centres, was increasing.
“It is a transformative technology. It so completely changes how we work, how we live,” she said, adding that an AI assistant now provided her with a 30-second daily briefing on her schedule.
Georgieva identified the United States, China and India as the leading producers in the AI supply chain, while noting that many companies responsible for building the infrastructure required to support the technology were based in Asia.
Meanwhile, World Bank President Ajay Banga said the institution was exploring ways to use smaller-scale artificial intelligence applications to improve productivity in developing economies.
Banga, who has prioritised job creation during his presidency, said such technology could deliver substantial benefits to farmers, healthcare providers, educators and other groups without relying on large language models.
Singapore’s President, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, also warned that the growing adoption of AI could reduce employment opportunities for university graduates, particularly those seeking their first jobs.
“There is a particular problem that we have to address very soon … and that is that, the first rung in employment, your first job upon graduation, is now seeing less demand,” he said.
Shanmugaratnam urged governments to prevent AI from widening economic inequalities between advanced and developing countries, particularly in employment and growth.
“AI is going to widen the divergence if we are too passive about it,” he said.
“So we’ve got to do everything we can to first use AI to create good jobs and to create jobs that can be done well by human beings, can allow them to ride up a career ladder despite AI.”
About 18,000 participants, including finance officials from the IMF’s 191 member countries, are expected to attend the annual meetings in Bangkok this week.
