British job losses as a result of AI were twice the international average, with a net loss of 8% over the past 12 months, according to investment bank Morgan Stanley.

Of the five major markets included in the study (UK, Japan, Germany, Australia and US), only the US saw an increase in jobs as a result of AI.

​The report surveyed firms that have been using AI for at least a year in five industries: consumer staples and retail, real estate, transport, healthcare equipment and automobiles.

​It found that British businesses reported an average 11.5% increase in productivity thanks to AI.

​Earlier this month, London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said AI could lead to a new era of mass unemployment and inequality.

“We mustn’t drift, absentmindedly, into a future we didn’t ask for and don’t want,” he said in his annual speech. “We need to wake up and make a choice: seize the potential of AI and use it as a superpower for positive transformation and creation, or surrender to it and sit back and watch as it becomes a weapon of mass destruction of jobs.”

​The news comes as Amazon is expected to announce a new round of layoffs as part of its plan to eliminate 30,000 corporate jobs. The latest cuts will remove 14,000 corporate positions across Amazon Web Services (AWS), retail, Prime Video and human resources.

On a separate note, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, also warned AI may upend half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years.

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