Generative AI exacerbates racial economic impacts.

New wealth created by digital and AI capabilities flows through an economy where the median Black household has only about 15 percent of the wealth held by the median White household. The data are striking: the median Black family has amassed about $44,900 in wealth; the median White household holds $285,000 in total assets.

Without correcting long-standing patterns, gen AI has the potential to increase this racial wealth gap. Annual global wealth creation from gen AI is projected to be about $7 trillion, with almost $2 trillion of it expected to go to the United States, given its share of global GDP. US household wealth captures about 30 percent of US GDP, suggesting the United States could gain nearly $500 billion in household wealth from gen AI value creation. This increase would translate to an average of $3,400 in new wealth for each of the projected 143.4 million US households in 2045.

Black Americans capture only about 38 cents of every dollar of new household wealth despite representing 13 percent of the US population. If this trend continues and projections of the growth of Black households are accurate, by 2045, racially disparate distribution of new wealth created by gen AI could increase the wealth gap between Black and White households by $43 billion annually (Exhibit 1).

Gen AI’s impact on Black workers

One of the most pressing questions about gen AI is how it will affect workers and, specifically, workers of color. Black Americans, with an unemployment rate twice that of White workers,3 are overrepresented in roles most likely to be taken over by automation. Indeed, Black workers are increasingly overrepresented in four of the top five occupations at risk of automation: office support, production work, food services, and mechanical installation and repair. If reskilling efforts are not undertaken, this trend only stands to worsen. According to our analysis of 2022 data, some 24 percent of all Black workers are in occupations with greater than 75 percent automation potential, compared with just 20 percent of White workers. It’s no wonder, then, that in a recent survey from workplace research firm Charter Works, 53 percent of Black respondents said they worry that AI might replace their jobs in the next five years, compared with 39 percent of White respondents.5

But those figures alone don’t tell the full story of how gen AI may impact Black workers.

Gen AI’s impact on high-mobility jobs

Gen AI does not put low-wage jobs at particular risk in the same way previous advances in automation did—it actually has greater automation potential for higher-wage knowledge work. However, gen AI will likely alter professional pathways that Black workers rely on to move from low-wage to higher-paying roles.