AI's Impact on Job Market: 'Godfather of AI' Predicts Widespread Disruption and Safe Havens

The 'Godfather of AI' says this sector will be safe from being replaced by tech -- but even then, only the 'very skilled' will hold down a job

"They're much more elastic," Hinton explained yesterday on The Diary of a CEO YouTube series. "If you could make doctors five times as efficient, we could all have five times as much health care for the same price," he continued. "There's almost no limit to how much healthcare people can absorb -- [patients] always want more healthcare if there's no cost to it." The Nobel Prize winning scientist is one of many experts who anticipate that healthcare will be buoyed in this digital transformation -- but many others won't be so lucky. Hinton believes that jobs that perform mundane tasks will be taken over by AI, as roles like receptionists and customer service representatives are already vulnerable. That, Hinton predicted, will wipe out a high number of roles right off the bat: "You'd have to be very skilled to have a job that it couldn't just do." Tech leaders with rosy lenses like Jensen Huang contend that humans won't be replaced by AI, but rather their AI-enabled coworkers will take their jobs. But the Godfather of AI thinks that's too optimistic. "There are jobs where you can make a person with an AI assistant much more efficient, and you won't lead to less people, because you'll just have much more of that being done," Hinton said. "But most jobs are not like that." He concluded that AI will likely lead to companies needing far fewer workers and that the new technology's impact can't be compared to previous technological advances, which created an explosion of new jobs. "This is a very different kind of technology. If it can do all mundane human intellectual labor, then what new jobs is it going to create?" Hinton said. "You'd have to be very skilled to have a job that it couldn't just do." It isn't just leading scientists, CEOs, and workers ringing the alarm bills -- even major consulting firms and banks are projecting a bleak labor market. McKinsey predicted that by 2030, 30% of current U.S. jobs could be automated; Goldman Sachs projected that up to 50% of jobs could be fully automated by 2045, driven by generative AI and robotics. It's been estimated by leaders like Anthropic's CEO that nearly half of entry-level white collar jobs are on the chopping block thanks to AI -- and Klarna's CEO admitted that "a lot of the jobs are going to be threatened." But many healthcare roles will be safe and sound. Healthcare is a key industry expected to thrive amid the U.S.'s digital workplace disruption, according to a 2024 report from McKinsey. AI still can't perform a majority of tasks that healthcare workers can -- like sterilizing surgical equipment, or administering at-home aid. Plus, there's something much more comforting about a human handling your medical care over a cold, metal robot. Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google's AI research lab DeepMind, also echoed Hinton's prediction that healthcare workers will be optimized -- but not fully replaced -- by AI. The tech executive believes the tools will help us cure disease, and create "superhuman" productivity. But people will still be at the heart of medical care. "There's a lot of things that we won't want to do with a machine," Hassabis told Wired in a recent interview. "You wouldn't want a robot nurse -- there's something about the human empathy aspect of that care that's particularly humanistic."

A 'Godfather' of the Internet Says You Should Become a Plumber. Here's Why

Featured Video The Man Behind the Wheel of Driverless Trucks Hinton sees the force multiplier effect as having the opposite impact. "Mundane intellectual" roles in the office will be replaced, he thinks, so that one "person and an AI assistant" will be able to achieve the same kind of task throughput that "10 people did previously." A 10-to-1 staffing ratio is huge, and it's easy to understand what Hinton's saying here. Essentially, given the chance of reducing a wage bill by 90 percent, the average company leader may be tempted to just cut the jobs rather than apply any smarter long-term AI-centric business planning. Hinton also underlined AI critics' contention that for the near future the robot revolution will lag the cutting edge of AI, so that certain physical jobs will remain unthreatened by the technology. "It's going to be a long time" before AI is "good at physical manipulation... So, a good bet would be to be a plumber," he said. Many pro-automation commentators have suggested that an "army" of humanoid robots is set to invade the workplace, and Elon Musk has even bet the trillion-dollar future of his company Tesla on the notion. But while robots like Tesla's Optimus may prove useful in certain factory situations, or perhaps even in certain home-help or medical scenarios, a truly creative, detailed and highly skill-specific job like fixing a leak in a water heating system may prove beyond an android's capabilities for many years.

AI Is Going to 'Replace Everybody' in Several Fields, According to the 'Godfather of AI.' Here's Who He Says Should Be 'Terrified.'

Hinton predicts that there are certain jobs that will be completely eliminated soon. The "Godfather of AI" says that some fields are safer than others when it comes to being replaced by AI. Geoffrey Hinton, 78, is often referred to as the Godfather of AI due to his pioneering work on neural networks, which began in the late 1970s. He won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on machine learning and is currently a professor emeritus in computer science at the University of Toronto. In a recent interview on the podcast "Diary of a CEO" that aired on Monday, Hinton said AI has the potential to cause mass joblessness. "I think for mundane intellectual labor, AI is just going to replace everybody," Hinton said. "Mundane intellectual labor" refers to white-collar jobs. He specified that the replacement would take the form of "a person and an AI assistant" doing the work that "ten people did previously." Related: These 3 Professions Are Most Likely to Vanish in the Next 20 Years Due to AI, According to a New Report Hinton gave one example, noting that paralegals were at risk of losing their jobs to AI, and said that he would be "terrified" to work in a call center right now, due to the potential for automation. However, he pointed out that blue-collar work would take a longer time to be replaced by AI. "I'd say it's going to be a long time before it [AI] is as good at physical manipulation," Hinton said in the podcast. "So, a good bet would be to be a plumber." In the interview, Hinton also challenged the notion that AI would create new jobs, stating that if AI automated intellectual tasks, there would be few jobs left for people to do. "You'd have to be very skilled to have a job that it [AI] just couldn't do," Hinton said. AI has the potential to decrease hiring, especially for entry-level jobs. A report released last month from venture capital firm SignalFire found that big tech companies have stopped hiring new graduates for entry-level roles as much as they did in the past, and AI is a significant reason for the decline. The report found that the percentage of new graduate hires at companies like Meta and Google dropped by 25% from 2023 to 2024, reaching just 7% in 2024. Related: Investment Firm CEO Tells Thousands in Conference Audience That 60% of Them Will Be 'Looking for Work' Next Year It's not just the tech industry -- Wall Street also shows signs of being impacted by AI. In March, Morgan Stanley announced layoffs of 2,000 employees, intending to replace some with AI. A report released in January from Bloomberg Intelligence showed that AI could cause as many as 200,000 job cuts across 93 major banks, including Citigroup and JPMorgan, within the next five years.

Godfather of AI reveals the one job robots can't steal, and it does not need a desk

Geoffrey Hinton, who helped shape today's AI revolution, now warns that artificial intelligence could one day endanger humanity. Expressing regret over his role, he suggests that physical, skill-based professions -- like plumbing -- are safest from AI disruption, unlike knowledge-based jobs. His predictions signal a future where manual trades may thrive while white-collar roles face obsolescence.In a world fast tilting toward automation and digital dominance, Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton -- widely revered as the "Godfather of AI" -- has issued a chilling yet oddly hopeful revelation. While warning that artificial intelligence could one day pose an existential threat to humanity, the renowned computer scientist singled out one surprising profession he believes will remain untouched by the AI revolution: plumbing. Hinton, who left Google in 2023 to speak freely about his growing concerns, recently appeared on The Diary of a CEO podcast hosted by Steven Bartlett. There, he offered a candid reflection on the trajectory of the technology he helped build -- and the real-world consequences it may soon unleash. While discussing the long-term risks of AI, Hinton remarked, "I'd say it's going to be a long time before [AI is] as good at physical manipulation as us -- and so a good bet would be to be a plumber." Unlike jobs that rely heavily on deskwork and pattern recognition, plumbing requires intricate physical skills, situational improvisation, and hands-on expertise that AI currently can't replicate. In Hinton's view, it's the kind of job that could survive even in a future where many white-collar professions are replaced by machines. The 77-year-old pioneer expressed deep emotional conflict over his role in creating AI. "Intellectually, you can see the threat," he said, "but it's very hard to come to terms with it emotionally. I haven't come to terms with what the development of superintelligence could do to my children's future." In a moment of raw honesty, Hinton admitted he finds it disturbing to think about AI's long-term impact, especially as it could one day operate power stations independently -- and potentially decide that humans are no longer needed at all. "If AI ever decided to take over, it would need people for a while to run the power stations," he warned, "until it designed better analog machines... There are so many ways it could get rid of people, all of which would, of course, be very nasty." While the wrench-wielders may breathe easy, Hinton also highlighted who might be first in the AI firing line: legal assistants and paralegals. These roles, heavy on documentation and pattern-based tasks, are already being encroached upon by AI tools capable of drafting, summarizing, and even predicting legal outcomes. "In a society which shared out things fairly, everybody should be better off," he noted. "But if you can replace lots of people by AIs, then the people who get replaced will be worse off." Hinton added that while the AI industry may boost productivity, it also threatens to deepen inequality. The companies building and using AI will likely benefit the most, leaving displaced workers and growing social disparity in their wake. As machines begin to outthink us, it may just be the simplest, most tactile jobs -- those involving pipes, pressure, and practical know-how -- that end up being the last stronghold of human labor.

AI godfather Geoffrey Hinton reveals the surprising jobs safe from automation -- and the roles everybody will lose soon

Geoffrey Hinton, the 'Godfather of AI,' predicts AI will surpass human capabilities. He says AI will soon replace routine office jobs. Plumbing remains a safe career choice for now. Paralegals and call center workers face high risk. Hinton warns of mass job losses and worries about the impact on people's sense of purpose. Healthcare may better adapt to AI changes.Geoffrey Hinton is called the "Godfather of AI" because of his important work on neural networks. He used to work at Google. Hinton talked about AI and jobs in an interview on the "Diary of a CEO" podcast aired on June 16, as per reports. He said AI will one day be better than humans at everything. But for now, some jobs are safer. Jobs that need physical work, like plumbing, will stay safe for a long time. Hinton said, "It will take a long time for AI to be good at physical tasks... so being a plumber is a smart choice," according to Business Insider. Gen Z workers are increasingly choosing blue-collar jobs like plumbing because the job market is very tough. For boring or routine intellectual jobs, AI will replace almost everyone. Hinton, "For mundane intellectual labor, AI is just going to replace everybody." Paralegals are at high risk of being replaced by AI. Working in call centers is very risky, Hinton said he'd be "terrified" if he worked there. To keep a job safe from AI, people need to be very skilled. Hinton says, "You would have to be very skilled to have an AI-proof job", as stated by Business Insider. Hinton sees mass job losses caused by AI as the biggest threat to people's happiness right now. Even if governments give universal basic income, people might still feel unhappy because they lose their sense of purpose without work. Hinton advocates UBI but worries about loss of purpose. Mass job displacement by AI is likely and is already happening in some ways. AI is starting to take over jobs that recent college graduates used to get. Some people think AI won't fully replace entry-level jobs, but will help humans do those jobs better, as mentioned by Business Insider. Hinton agrees some jobs will be done by humans working with AI assistants, but that means one person will do the work of 10 people, leading to big job cuts. Healthcare jobs might handle AI changes better because there's always high demand for healthcare. Hinton said, "A few areas, like healthcare, will be able to absorb the change." But most jobs are not like healthcare and will not be able to absorb AI disruptions well, as per the report by Business Insider. Q1. Which jobs are safe from AI? Jobs that need physical work like plumbing and healthcare are safer from AI. Q2. What kinds of jobs will AI replace soon? AI will replace many routine office jobs like paralegals and call center workers.

'AI will replace everyone': Nobel prize winner for AI shares a tip hidden in bathroom to protect your career

Geoffrey Hinton, a pioneer in AI, expresses concerns about job security in an automated world, highlighting plumbing as a surprisingly safe career due to its reliance on manual dexterity and problem-solving skills in unpredictable environments.As the world rapidly embraces automation, one of the pioneers of modern artificial intelligence is voicing strong concerns about what lies ahead. Geoffrey Hinton, the British-Canadian computer scientist widely known as the "Godfather of AI," has made a rare public statement highlighting which jobs are most vulnerable, and which ones might endure. Hinton, who played a key role in developing the AI systems that now power tools from chatbots to healthcare technology, stepped away from his position at Google in 2023. Since then, he has spoken more openly about the potential dangers of the very technology he helped shape. In a recent episode of *The Diary of a CEO* podcast with Steven Bartlett, Hinton shared his views on the future of work in an AI-driven world. In an unexpected insight, he named plumbing as one of the few career paths likely to remain relatively secure. While talking about the risks of AI, Hinton made a simple point: machines are good at thinking, not at fixing pipes. "It's going to be a long time before [AI is] as good at physical manipulation as us," he said. "A good bet would be to be a plumber." Plumbing is difficult to automate because it demands manual expertise, on-the-spot judgment, and the ability to solve problems in unpredictable environments. A plumber might have to squeeze under a sink, deal with irregular water pressure, or fix an issue without clear instructions -- challenges that current AI systems aren't equipped to handle. According to Hinton, jobs that depend on hands-on skills are far less likely to be replaced by AI in the near future. While machines excel at processing data and generating content, they still can't climb ladders or tighten valves. That makes skilled trade professions -- like plumbing, electrical work, and carpentry -- more resilient in an increasingly automated world. While plumbers may have some protection for now, Geoffrey Hinton believes many office-based jobs are far more vulnerable. He specifically pointed to roles like legal assistants and paralegals as among the first to be reshaped by AI. These positions often involve tasks such as reviewing contracts, analyzing documents, and summarizing information -- functions that large language models are already capable of performing. With AI tools now able to draft legal content and even forecast case outcomes, the demand for human support roles in law firms could decline. Hinton wasn't sounding an alarm for the sake of it -- he was simply reflecting what the data suggests. "In a society which shared out things fairly, everybody should be better off," he said. "But if you can replace lots of people by AIs, then the people who get replaced will be worse off." In short, while AI may drive productivity gains, those benefits may not be shared equally across society.

Geoffrey Hinton Says Be A 'Plumber' If You Want To Have A Safe Job, 'Godfather Of AI' Says Everyone Doing 'Mundane Intellectual Labor' Will Be Replaced - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Geoffrey Hinton, the deep-learning pioneer popularly dubbed the "Godfather of AI," says young job seekers should consider a career as a plumber as software continues to eclipse routine office work. What Happened: "AI is just going to replace everybody" doing "mundane intellectual labor," Hinton told "The Diary of a CEO" podcast, adding he would be "terrified" today in a call-center or paralegal post. Hinton said physical trades remain safer because "it's going to be a long time" before AI is as good at "physical manipulation," even though he concedes that artificial intelligence models will eventually be "better than us at everything." Plumbing, electrical work and similar hands-on roles demand dexterity robots still lack, he noted, mirroring earlier advice he gave a parent in November 2024 to have their child "learn plumbing. Stay away from AI." See also: Eric Trump Says He Doesn't Have 'Public Involvement' In Justin Sun's MSTR-Type Public Venture, But Admits He's A 'Fan' Of Tron And Its Founder The emeritus Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG Google scientist warned that displacement is already underway. AI copilots will soon let one worker do what used to be the work of ten people, prompting mass layoffs in sectors with little elastic demand. Industries such as health care may absorb automation because "there's almost endless demand," but "most jobs ... are not like that," he said. Why It Matters: Hinton, who left Google in 2023 to speak freely about AI risks, called large-scale unemployment the most immediate threat to human happiness. Even with a universal basic income, an idea he has pressed U.K. officials to study, people could lose purpose without meaningful work. Policy makers should pair rapid reskilling with much more serious discussion of income guarantees before automation accelerates, he said, echoing earlier comments that governments must act "unless you're sure [AI] won't kill you, worry about it." For now, Hinton's counsel is blunt. He suggests choosing careers that combine adaptability, dexterity and judgment, skills algorithms still struggle to copy, because as he recently explained to The Atlantic's Nick Thompson back in 2023, "that's where the jobs that survive AI for a long time are going to be." Photo Courtesy: Stokkete on Shutterstock.com Read next: Trump Exits G7 Summit Early Citing 'Obvious Reasons' Amid Escalating Iran-Israel Conflict: Gold, Oil ETFs Spike In After-Hours Trading GOOGAlphabet Inc$176.700.47%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum38.10Growth88.34Quality85.24Value51.44Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGLAlphabet Inc$175.420.43%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs