Over the past year or so, Wall Street has gone through waves of artific intelligence (AI)-related sell-offs, sparked by fears about everything from more cost-efficient competition in china to the likelihood of a looming AI bubble.  Last week’s market dip may have been the first partly caused by a self published work of fiction.

Citrini Research, a lesser known investment research firm, published a lengthy blog post on Feb 23 titled “The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis”. In it, the researchers imagine a scenario two years from now whe extremely capable AI agents have replace vast swaths of white-collar jobs, wipingout consumer spending and pushing the global economy into a deflationary spiral.

Uber, DoorDash, Mastercard, Visa and other firms name checked in the blog soon saw their stocks tumble as investors digestedthe dystopian scenario. Some mainstream economists, meanwhile, were quick to pan Citrini’s report, with the acting chair of the White House Council of Economic Advise Pierre Yared, dismissing it as “science fiction”

For more details, visit the full article here.