Salt Lake Chamber: "Figure out how AI can help your job"

Utah's leaders have few answers to job losses due to AI, except one: Learn how to use it now rather than later.

Driving the news: That was the advice from Derek Miller, head of the Salt Lake Chamber, when I prodded him for solutions to what some economists say will probably be a soft labor market for decades.

• At our Axios Live event last week about AI in Utah, we were joined by state officials, other Axios journalists and an Anthropic executive.

What they're saying: "Whatever it is you do, figure out how AI can help you in your job," Miller told me.

The big picture: An analysis by the Brookings Institution last year found that Utah is one of the nation's most "AI-exposed" states, based on the share of the workforce in jobs that are likely to be changed or eliminated due to AI.

• Tech CEOs estimate AI could cut half of entry-level positions.

Between the lines: I brought my 13-year-old to our event because she's worried about her place in an AI future.

The bottom line: Growing unemployment due to AI has been in the forecast for a few years now, and yet the strategy from the folks in charge hasn't really changed.

• In the words of my middle schooler, "The answer I heard was basically: 'Figure it out yourself.'"

Watch the interview