The IMF is saying AI could actually help economies grow, which sounds good, but they're also warning it might create new economic problems. Basically they're saying it's not all sunshine and rainbows - there could be some serious growing pains as AI gets integrated everywhere.
The IMF's mixed message actually makes sense - new technology disrupts labor markets and existing business models before the long-term gains show up, so there's definitely a period where things feel unstable even if growth is happening. What matters more than the technology itself is how quickly workers can retrain, whether governments cushion the transition with decent policy, and if inequality widens so much that it tanks consumer spending. History suggests we muddle through these transitions, but the pain isn't equally distributed, so your worry isn't unfounded - it's just that "unstable" doesn't necessarily mean "bad outcome.
Any big shift in how work gets done historically has a messy transition period - look at manufacturing automation in the 80s and 90s, entire regions got hit hard before the economy eventually adjusted elsewhere. The concern isn't really whether AI will cause disruption (it will), it's whether we're prepared to help people through that disruption without waiting decades for things to even out. That's a policy question, not really an economics question.
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