WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The future impact of artificial intelligence (AI) is clouded by "significant unknowns," International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Tuesday, noting that the risk of falling behind on AI is "most profound" in developing economies.
At a roundtable with reporters in Washington, D.C., Georgieva said in her opening remarks that the global economy is like the ship in Christopher Nolan's new movie The Odyssey. "It is resisting powerful headwinds from high debt levels, stubborn inflation, and trade tensions," she said.
The IMF chief noted that thus far, the global economy has weathered the energy shock caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz better than the IMF feared, due to a combination of factors: drawdowns of oil and gas reserves, increases in non-Gulf supply, more renewable energy capacity, a partial shift back to coal in some places, as well as reductions in demand, which are more impactful than originally projected.
Besides these factors, Georgieva continued, the global economy is also benefiting from the tailwinds of an AI investment boom, noting that those plugged into the AI supply chain are among the first to benefit.
"We have literally a tug of war between the negative supply shock from the Middle East and the positive demand shock from AI," she said, adding that the net impact of these two forces is asymmetric across countries.
"It depends on their exposure to energy disruptions, macroeconomic vulnerabilities, and their position in the AI chain," said the IMF chief.
Georgieva noted that countries are facing mounting fiscal pressures, as evidenced by rising bond yields and a stalled disinflation process, while shrinking oil and gas reserves mean that "the energy shock is not over."
Moreover, she noted that the future impact of AI is "dogged by significant unknowns," including possible risks to financial stability. "Should the outlook deteriorate, it will further widen the dispersion of growth prospects around the world," she said.
"The risk of falling behind on AI is also most profound in developing economies. All this leaves no room for complacency," she added.
The IMF chief joined the media roundtable weeks before the 2026 Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group, scheduled to take place in Bangkok, Thailand, in October.
Looking ahead to the event, Georgieva said that this year's annual meetings are set to take place in Asia, the most important source of global economic growth, but also a region that has played an important role in AI development and has been significantly hit by the energy shock.
One of the two main topics would be resilience, she said. "What more can we do to create the conditions for successful navigation in an uncertain environment?"
The other topic will be dynamism, she continued. "We should not forget the fact that growth has been somewhat underwhelming. What can be done, and how can it be done to reduce divergence in economic fortunes?" Georgieva said.
