The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has a responsibility to help poorer nations struggling with rising debt, high inflation and price shocks caused by war spillovers, the head of the global lender says. Speaking as the IMF's annual meetings in Bangkok wrapped up on Saturday, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said discussions with global policymakers showed both "optimism and worry". "But AI is also recognised to be a source of worry and so are inflation, high levels of debt, wars, climate risks." Georgieva said vulnerable nations are missing out on the AI investment boom that is driving growth in richer countries while at the same time dealing with higher borrowing costs. Higher global interest rates mean low-income countries now spend 8 to 14 percent of their revenue on debt repayments, up from previous years, she said.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during the IMF/World Bank 2026 Annual Meetings in Bangkok on Monday. The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned of the disruptive threat from artificial intelligence to the labor market and taxation, urging policymakers to rethink education and act now to help society adapt. "It is a slow-moving tsunami, but tsunami none the less," Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Monday during her first appearance at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bangkok. Speaking at a session on AI's impact on employment, she said the technology is already hollowing out demand for many human workers by taking over routine, repetitive tasks. At the same time, it is increasing low-paying jobs in sectors like construction, which she said is "not a story to celebrate."

Kristalina Georgieva, before the start of the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in Singapore, said economic policy chiefs could not keep delaying action. Kristalina Georgieva, before the start of the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in Singapore, said economic policy chiefs could not keep delaying action. Kristalina Georgieva says big economies will have to make'very touch choices' as soaring bond yields hit budgets The head of the International Monetary Fund has called on governments across big economies to tighten their belts as soaring bond yields hit budgets. Speaking in Singapore, the IMF's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said global debt-to-GDP ratios were at their highest level since the second world war and on course to hit 100% in the coming years. She said governments could not rely on rapid economic growth to lift the burden of debt - and instead would have to make "very tough political choices".

Policymakers are being urged to nudge companies to put checks in place on powerful AI tools. Policymakers are being urged to nudge companies to put checks in place on powerful AI tools. Tech could lose its social acceptance unless it makes people's lives better - and trade unions want an urgent conversation "Who wouldn't want a robot to watch over your kids?" Elon Musk asked Davos delegates last week, as he looked forward with enthusiasm to a world with "more robots than people". Not me, thanks: children need the human connection - the love - that gives life meaning. As he works towards launching SpaceX on to the stock market, in perhaps the biggest ever such share sale, the world's richest man has every incentive to talk big.

Georgieva said that AI would wipe out many roles traditionally taken up by younger workers. Georgieva said that AI would wipe out many roles traditionally taken up by younger workers. Young will suffer most when AI'tsunami' hits jobs, says head of IMF Artificial intelligence will be a "tsunami hitting the labour market", with young people worst affected, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned the World Economic Forum on Friday. Kristalina Georgieva told delegates in Davos that the IMF's own research suggested there would be a big transformation of demand for skills, as the technology becomes increasingly widespread. "We expect over the next years, in advanced economies, 60% of jobs to be affected by AI, either enhanced or eliminated or transformed - 40% globally," she said.

Artificial intelligence may soon affect more than half of all jobs in the UK, a new study from the IMF has warned. Across the world, 40 per cent of all occupations are likely to be affected by AI. But in advanced economies like the UK, the impact is expected to be even more pronounced, with 60 per cent of all workers feeling the impact. The IMF warns that, even where AI's effects are positive, computer automation is likely to drive wealth inequality. Highly paid professions will see AI boost their wages while lower paid roles are at a significant risk of pay cuts and lay-offs.

Artificial intelligence will affect 40% of jobs around the world and it is "crucial" that countries build social safety nets to mitigate the impact on vulnerable workers, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund. AI, the term for computer systems that can perform tasks usually associated with human levels of intelligence, is poised to profoundly change the global economy with advanced economies at greater risk of disruption. Analysis by the IMF, the international lender of last resort, says about 60% of jobs in advanced economies such as the US and UK are exposed to AI and half of these jobs may be negatively affected. But the technology will also help to enhance some humans' productivity as AI improves their performance, it said. According to the IMF, the safest highly exposed jobs are those with a "high complementarity" to AI, meaning the technology will assist their work rather than displace it entirely.

If there's one area where there's real excitement about the improvements in our lives which advances in artificial intelligence could bring, it is healthcare. On Tech Tent this week we ask whether, amidst all the hope and hype, real innovations are beginning to transform the way patients are treated. At Oxford University's Said Business School, some of the leading thinkers in AI research - from the university and beyond - gathered this week. There were fascinating discussions about everything from autonomous cars to the way AI is transforming the finance industry. But the panels on healthcare drew big crowds and a sense that researchers were on the cusp of delivering concrete results which will soon begin to be seen in hospitals.