But used recklessly, it could usher in a new era of mass unemployment, accelerated inequality, and an unprecedented concentration of wealth and power.

This week, the shocking reports of X’s AI tool, Grok, being used to undress women in photos and create sexualised images of children, have rightly provoked outrage.

Following our experiences with the social media revolution, this latest appalling scandal once again illustrates the consequences of being too slow to respond to new technology.

As we stand at the dawn of the AI revolution, we mustn’t make the same mistakes with AI that were and are being made with social media. The harm that could be caused if we did are incalculable.

Right now, it feels as though the ground beneath our feet is shifting. Artificial intelligence is beginning to cause tectonic movements – in our markets, industries and workplaces. Its early tremors are already beginning to reshape our lives and livelihoods.

We can hear the low rumbling of this new, technological revolution, but we don’t yet know what course it will take. But one thing’s for sure: we mustn’t drift, absentmindedly into a future we didn’t ask for and don’t want. 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.

In London, the impact of AI on our labour market will be seismic. Some of our city’s biggest sectors – such as finance, professional services and the creative industries – rank among the most likely to be affected, and according to recent polling, more than half of London workers expect AI to impact their job in some way in the next twelve months.

There’s a real danger that old roles may disappear faster than new ones are created. And entry-level jobs will likely be the first to go – robbing our young people of that vital first step on the career ladder and robbing us, and our economy, of the future leaders they might have become.

Work doesn’t just give us the means to look after ourselves and our families – it gives our lives structure and shape, identity and purpose. Work cuts to the heart of what I call the ‘London promise’ – that unspoken contract between Londoners and our great city: that if you’re willing to work hard, this city will give you a helping hand, and there’ll be no limits to what you can achieve.

This promise is what attracts the world’s best and brightest to come here. It’s why London has generated ground-breaking inventions, game-changing ventures and legendary creatives. Our city shares in the success of all those who are proud to call it home.

But if we’re to keep the London promise alive in the age of AI, we need to act, and act fast. Research suggests that 70% of skills in the average job will have changed by 2030 – so if we want to future-proof our economy, and our workforce, we don’t have a second to lose.

Last year, I launched the London Growth Plan, which sets out our vision to accelerate growth and make London a leader in the industries of tomorrow.  It includes £147 million in new skills funding, to make sure Londoners are equipped with the skills they, and our economy, need.

But with the rise of AI, we need to do more. That’s why I’ll be launching a new London Taskforce on AI and the Future of Work. The Taskforce will look at the impact AI will have on jobs here in London, and help us to identify what needs to be done to ensure Londoners have the skills they need to move into future roles and stay competitive in a global job market.

In addition to this Taskforce, we’ll be commissioning free AI skills training, available to all Londoners, so they can upskill and take advantage of this new technology.

Seventy-five years ago, London’s own Alan Turing warned that his discoveries in computer science were “only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.” The technology he glimpsed is now in full view, for all to see. And it’s up to us to make sure it delivers the safer, fairer and more prosperous London we all deserve.’

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Sadiq Khan is the Labour Mayor of London.

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