The Bank of England plans scenario exercises modelling a full-blown AI-driven economic shock to assess risks to jobs, households, firms, and the financial system, a person familiar said.

The BOE will consider if these scenarios should feed into its banking stress tests to capture possible surges in loan defaults and damage to lenders, the person said.

Concerns rose after a dystopian scenario from Citrini Research sparked a brief market selloff. Block Inc. cut almost half of its staff, citing AI. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, warned AI could displace half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within one to five years.