{"id":82759,"topic":"ai","source":"Time Magazine","title":"Panelists Discuss AI’s Potential Impacts, for Better or Worse, on the Economy - Time Magazine","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/14/ai-impact-dinner-panel-intelligent-economy/","url_hash":"e9e6155a522022b2f1d88be480f27805ddf22c2b","author":"","summary":"Panelists Discuss AI’s Potential Impacts, for Better or Worse, on the Economy Time Magazine","content":"Artificial intelligence could flatten your company hierarchy, improve global agriculture, and give you the perfect vacation. It could also leave you permanently jobless, destroy your region’s economy, and cause mass social upset.\nThose high-stakes defined the mood as panelists at the third annual TIME100 AI Impact Dinner grappled with the dilemmas of machine intelligence in San Francisco on Monday night.\nChief among them: whether AI will cause mass job loss, a new jobs boom, or both at once.\n“At the beginning of the century, our company,” said Glen Fogel, chief executive of travel conglomerate Booking Holdings, which sponsored the event, “had human translators, thousands of them. … How many human translators do you think we have today? I don’t know what they’re doing right now, but I feel bad. Their job is just no longer needed.”\nHe also outlined his company’s vision for AI travel agents that can organize your vacation to suit your preferences and reorganize it on the fly if weather or delays throw a spanner in the works.\nFogel was among the executives, innovators, storytellers, and activists gathered at the city’s Asian Art Museum to celebrate those honored in the 2026 TIME100 AI list, which highlights the year’s most influential people in AI.\nIn an on-stage discussion before the dinner, TIME editor in chief Sam Jacobs asked panelists what trends they saw in the labor market — and how worried new graduates should be about their future.\n“[AI] needs to be pivoted in the right direction,” said Ravi Kumar S, CEO of the outsourcing giant Cognizant, which also sponsored the event. Whereas previous tech disruptions have shifted power upward in the corporate structure, he argued, AI could shift it downward: giving more power, capability, and control to everyday employees.\n“This is a technology which will flatten the pyramid if you can drift the capability to the front lines,” he said.\nBut, he added, “companies all over the world are still not doing that.” He advocated new taxes on companies that use AI to replace human workers, as a “temporary bridge” to a more stable future economy.\nFogel warned of social unrest if governments don’t act now to limit the impact on people who cannot realistically retrain into AI-based careers.\n“I’m concerned about how fast this change is happening. In the past it happened much slower,” he said. “I think government has to have a role in making sure that this transition period is done in a way that we don’t end up in societal disruption.”\nBooking Holdings, for its part, he said, is training “every single employee” to become “AI literate” — so that “if, God forbid,” the company can no longer justify their jobs, they might find other work.\nStill, both men expressed skepticism about recent calls by U.S. AI workers and some executives to “pace the frontier” and slow down advanced research and development.\nIf U.S. companies slow down but “bad actors” do not, Kumar S argued, “then you are in a much worse situation.” Fogel similarly warned that companies abroad — he did not name “China” — were “feverishly trying to develop similar technologies,” likening the problem to nuclear proliferation.\nBut AI’s potential isn’t all bad, the speakers agreed.\nFellow panelist Doreen Bogdan-Martin, secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union, praised countries such as Canada and Rwanda for their investments in upskilling their populations. She added that AI-literate young people in the developing world are already creating “tremendous” new innovations in agriculture, early warning systems, healthcare, and education.\nBut she also advocated international effort to “connect the unconnected,” pointing out that 2.2 billion people around the world have still never used the internet and 71 percent have never used generative AI.\n“I’m all about AI for good and AI for all,” she said. “We need to be thinking about capacity development, access to compute ... helping ensure that the rest of the world is at the table to be part of this conversation ... not just as a consumer but also a producer. Because there’s so much talent out there.”\nThe TIME100 Impact Dinner: Leaders Shaping the Future of AI was presented by Deloitte, Booking.com, and Cognizant.","image_url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08cb4119a9f50191/6aa9099e9b3f553197d2fc4b/Time100AI-9518.jpg?branch=production&width=1731&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9","lang":"en","published_at":"2026-09-15T09:30:03+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-09-15T10:15:05+00:00","status":"read","starred":0,"extract_state":"ok","summary_auto":"Artificial intelligence could flatten your company hierarchy, improve global agriculture, and give you the perfect vacation. 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It could also leave you permanently jobless, destroy your region’s economy, and cause mass social upset.\nThose high-stakes defined the mood as panelists at the third annual TIME100 AI Impact Dinner grappled with the dilemmas of machine intelligence in San Francisco on Monday night.\nChief among them: whether AI will cause mass job loss, a new jobs boom, or both at once.\n“At the beginning of the century, our company,” said Glen Fogel, chief executive of travel conglomerate Booking Holdings, which sponsored the event, “had human translators, thousands of them. … How many human translators do you think we have today? I don’t know what they’re doing right now, but I feel bad. Their job is just no longer needed.”\nHe also outlined his company’s vision for AI travel agents that can organize your vacation to suit your preferences and reorganize it on the fly if weather or delays throw a spanner in the works.\nFogel was among the executives, innovators, storytellers, and activists gathered at the city’s Asian Art Museum to celebrate those honored in the 2026 TIME100 AI list, which highlights the year’s most influential people in AI.\nIn an on-stage discussion before the dinner, TIME editor in chief Sam Jacobs asked panelists what trends they saw in the labor market — and how worried new graduates should be about their future.\n“[AI] needs to be pivoted in the right direction,” said Ravi Kumar S, CEO of the outsourcing giant Cognizant, which also sponsored the event. Whereas previous tech disruptions have shifted power upward in the corporate structure, he argued, AI could shift it downward: giving more power, capability, and control to everyday employees.\n“This is a technology which will flatten the pyramid if you can drift the capability to the front lines,” he said.\nBut, he added, “companies all over the world are still not doing that.” He advocated new taxes on companies that use AI to replace human workers, as a “temporary bridge” to a more stable future economy.\nFogel warned of social unrest if governments don’t act now to limit the impact on people who cannot realistically retrain into AI-based careers.\n“I’m concerned about how fast this change is happening. In the past it happened much slower,” he said. “I think government has to have a role in making sure that this transition period is done in a way that we don’t end up in societal disruption.”\nBooking Holdings, for its part, he said, is training “every single employee” to become “AI literate” — so that “if, God forbid,” the company can no longer justify their jobs, they might find other work.\nStill, both men expressed skepticism about recent calls by U.S. AI workers and some executives to “pace the frontier” and slow down advanced research and development.\nIf U.S. companies slow down but “bad actors” do not, Kumar S argued, “then you are in a much worse situation.” Fogel similarly warned that companies abroad — he did not name “China” — were “feverishly trying to develop similar technologies,” likening the problem to nuclear proliferation.\nBut AI’s potential isn’t all bad, the speakers agreed.\nFellow panelist Doreen Bogdan-Martin, secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union, praised countries such as Canada and Rwanda for their investments in upskilling their populations. She added that AI-literate young people in the developing world are already creating “tremendous” new innovations in agriculture, early warning systems, healthcare, and education.\nBut she also advocated international effort to “connect the unconnected,” pointing out that 2.2 billion people around the world have still never used the internet and 71 percent have never used generative AI.\n“I’m all about AI for good and AI for all,” she said. “We need to be thinking about capacity development, access to compute ... helping ensure that the rest of the world is at the table to be part of this conversation ... not just as a consumer but also a producer. Because there’s so much talent out there.”\nThe TIME100 Impact Dinner: Leaders Shaping the Future of AI was presented by Deloitte, Booking.com, and Cognizant.","excerpt":"Artificial intelligence could flatten your company hierarchy, improve global agriculture, and give you the perfect vacation. 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Whereas previous tech disruptions have shifted power upward in the corporate structure, he argued, AI could shift it downward: giving more power, capability, and control to everyday employees.\n“This is a technology which will flatten the pyramid if you can drift the capability to the front lines,” he said.\nBut, he added, “companies all over the world are still not doing that.” He advocated new taxes on companies that use AI to replace human workers, as a “temporary bridge” to a more stable future economy.\nFogel warned of social unrest if governments don’t act now to limit the impact on people who cannot realistically retrain into AI-based careers.\n“I’m concerned about how fast this change is happening. 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Their job is just no longer needed.”\nHe also outlined his company’s vision for AI travel agents that can organize your vacation to suit your preferences and reorganize it on the fly if weather or delays throw a spanner in the works.\nFogel was among the executives, innovators, storytellers, and activists gathered at the city’s Asian Art Museum to celebrate those honored in the 2026 TIME100 AI list, which highlights the year’s most influential people in AI.\nIn an on-stage discussion before the dinner, TIME editor in chief Sam Jacobs asked panelists what trends they saw in the labor market — and how worried new graduates should be about their future.\n“[AI] needs to be pivoted in the right direction,” said Ravi Kumar S, CEO of the outsourcing giant Cognizant, which also sponsored the event. Whereas previous tech disruptions have shifted power upward in the corporate structure, he argued, AI could shift it downward: giving more power, capability, and control to everyday employees.\n“This is a technology which will flatten the pyramid if you can drift the capability to the front lines,” he said.\nBut, he added, “companies all over the world are still not doing that.” He advocated new taxes on companies that use AI to replace human workers, as a “temporary bridge” to a more stable future economy.\nFogel warned of social unrest if governments don’t act now to limit the impact on people who cannot realistically retrain into AI-based careers.\n“I’m concerned about how fast this change is happening. In the past it happened much slower,” he said. “I think government has to have a role in making sure that this transition period is done in a way that we don’t end up in societal disruption.”\nBooking Holdings, for its part, he said, is training “every single employee” to become “AI literate” — so that “if, God forbid,” the company can no longer justify their jobs, they might find other work.\nStill, both men expressed skepticism about recent calls by U.S. AI workers and some executives to “pace the frontier” and slow down advanced research and development.\nIf U.S. companies slow down but “bad actors” do not, Kumar S argued, “then you are in a much worse situation.” Fogel similarly warned that companies abroad — he did not name “China” — were “feverishly trying to develop similar technologies,” likening the problem to nuclear proliferation.\nBut AI’s potential isn’t all bad, the speakers agreed.\nFellow panelist Doreen Bogdan-Martin, secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union, praised countries such as Canada and Rwanda for their investments in upskilling their populations. 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Their job is just no longer needed.”\nHe also outlined his company’s vision for AI travel agents that can organize your vacation to suit your preferences and reorganize it on the fly if weather or delays throw a spanner in the works.\nFogel was among the executives, innovators, storytellers, and activists gathered at the city’s Asian Art Museum to celebrate those honored in the 2026 TIME100 AI list, which highlights the year’s most influential people in AI.\nIn an on-stage discussion before the dinner, TIME editor in chief Sam Jacobs asked panelists what trends they saw in the labor market — and how worried new graduates should be about their future.\n“[AI] needs to be pivoted in the right direction,” said Ravi Kumar S, CEO of the outsourcing giant Cognizant, which also sponsored the event. Whereas previous tech disruptions have shifted power upward in the corporate structure, he argued, AI could shift it downward: giving more power, capability, and control to everyday employees.\n“This is a technology which will flatten the pyramid if you can drift the capability to the front lines,” he said.\nBut, he added, “companies all over the world are still not doing that.” He advocated new taxes on companies that use AI to replace human workers, as a “temporary bridge” to a more stable future economy.\nFogel warned of social unrest if governments don’t act now to limit the impact on people who cannot realistically retrain into AI-based careers.\n“I’m concerned about how fast this change is happening. In the past it happened much slower,” he said. “I think government has to have a role in making sure that this transition period is done in a way that we don’t end up in societal disruption.”\nBooking Holdings, for its part, he said, is training “every single employee” to become “AI literate” — so that “if, God forbid,” the company can no longer justify their jobs, they might find other work.\nStill, both men expressed skepticism about recent calls by U.S. AI workers and some executives to “pace the frontier” and slow down advanced research and development.\nIf U.S. companies slow down but “bad actors” do not, Kumar S argued, “then you are in a much worse situation.” Fogel similarly warned that companies abroad — he did not name “China” — were “feverishly trying to develop similar technologies,” likening the problem to nuclear proliferation.\nBut AI’s potential isn’t all bad, the speakers agreed.\nFellow panelist Doreen Bogdan-Martin, secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union, praised countries such as Canada and Rwanda for their investments in upskilling their populations. She added that AI-literate young people in the developing world are already creating “tremendous” new innovations in agriculture, early warning systems, healthcare, and education.\nBut she also advocated international effort to “connect the unconnected,” pointing out that 2.2 billion people around the world have still never used the internet and 71 percent have never used generative AI.\n“I’m all about AI for good and AI for all,” she said. “We need to be thinking about capacity development, access to compute ... helping ensure that the rest of the world is at the table to be part of this conversation ... not just as a consumer but also a producer. Because there’s so much talent out there.”\nThe TIME100 Impact Dinner: Leaders Shaping the Future of AI was presented by Deloitte, Booking.com, and Cognizant.","confidence":0.9,"diagnostics_url":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//time.com/article/2026/09/14/ai-impact-dinner-panel-intelligent-economy/","quality_bucket":"high","failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"quality_reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4234 characters.","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4234 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":4234,"summary_length":229,"usable_text_length":4234,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":4234,"summary_length":229}},"tags":[],"format_contract_version":"news_item_formats.v1"}}}