AI Pioneer Warns of Massive Unemployment and Economic Disparity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Godfather of AI Says His Creation Is About to Unleash Massive Unemployment

Image by Ramsey Cardy / Sportsfile for Collision via Getty / Futurism One of the most prominent pioneers of artificial intelligence has some grim predictions about what the technology he created is soon going to unleash onto humankind. Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist whose work on neural networks earned him the title of "Godfather of AI," suggested in an interview with the Financial Times that tech CEOs who preach positive outcomes for the future of AI are deluding themselves and others. "What's actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers," Hinton told the FT. "It's going to create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits. It will make a few people much richer and most people poorer." "That's not AI's fault," he continued. "That is the capitalist system." The former Google Brain team leader -- who left the company in 2023 and began making chilling premonitions about the future of AI -- didn't provide any estimates about when this shift might happen. It's stark to imagine a world where more people are being replaced with AI, because that very much is already happening, though those layoffs haven't yet resulted in the profit boon that companies desire. Although OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his ilk have, as the FT notes, suggested introducing a universal basic income (UBI) to counteract AI-induced unemployment, Hinton claimed that such a stopgap "won't deal with human dignity" and the loss of purpose people may experience without work. Though timelines for this jobs armageddon weren't provided, Hinton did put dates to another forthcoming AI revolution: when the technology could become superintelligent, able to out-think even the cleverest humans. "A lot of scientists agree between five and 20 years," he said. "That's the best bet." Like most of his peers in the AI world, Hinton considers superintelligence an inevitability. When asked how younger generations can stay positive in the face of such a swiftly-approaching paradigm shift, he rejected calls for calm. "I'm tempted to say, 'Why should [younger people] stay positive?'" he mused. "Maybe they would do more if they weren't so positive." "Suppose there was an alien invasion you could see with a telescope that would arrive in 10 years, would you be saying 'How do we stay positive?' No, you'd be saying, 'How on earth are we going to deal with this?'" Hinton continued. "If staying positive means pretending it's not going to happen, then people shouldn't stay positive." Despite describing such terrifying prospects, Hinton himself is ready to check out. "I am 77," he said, and "the end is coming for me soon anyway."

'Godfather of AI' says the technology will create massive unemployment and send profits soaring -- 'that is the capitalist system'

Pioneering computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, whose work has earned him a Nobel Prize and the moniker "godfather of AI," said artificial intelligence will spark a surge in unemployment and profits. In a wide-ranging interview with the Financial Times, the former Google scientist cleared the air about why he left the tech giant, raised alarms on potential threats from AI, and revealed how he uses the technology. But he also predicted who the winners and losers will be. "What's actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers," Hinton said. "It's going to create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits. It will make a few people much richer and most people poorer. That's not AI's fault, that is the capitalist system." That echos comments he gave to Fortune last month, when he said AI companies are more concerned with short-term profits than the long-term consequences of the technology. For now, layoffs haven't spiked, but evidence is mounting that AI is shrinking opportunities, especially at the entry level where recent college graduates start their careers. A survey from the New York Fed found that companies using AI are much more likely to retrain their employees than fire them, though layoffs are expected to rise in the coming months. Hinton said earlier that healthcare is the one industry that will be safe from the potential jobs armageddon. "If you could make doctors five times as efficient, we could all have five times as much health care for the same price," he explained on the Diary of a CEO YouTube series in June. "There's almost no limit to how much health care people can absorb -- [patients] always want more health care if there's no cost to it." Still, Hinton believes that jobs that perform mundane tasks will be taken over by AI, while sparing some jobs that require a high level of skill. In his interview with the FT, he also dismissed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's idea to pay a universal basic income as AI disrupts the economy and reduce demand for workers, saying it "won't deal with human dignity" and the value people derive from having jobs. Hinton has long warned about the dangers of AI without guardrails, estimating a 10% to 20% chance of the technology wiping out humans after the development of superintelligence. In his view, the dangers of AI fall into two categories: the risk the technology itself poses to the future of humanity, and the consequences of AI being manipulated by people with bad intent. In his FT interview, he warned AI could help someone build a bioweapon and lamented the Trump administration's unwillingness to regulate AI more closely, while China is taking the threat more seriously. But he also acknowledged potential upside from AI amid its immense possibilities and uncertainties. "We don't know what is going to happen, we have no idea, and people who tell you what is going to happen are just being silly," Hinton said. "We are at a point in history where something amazing is happening, and it may be amazingly good, and it may be amazingly bad. We can make guesses, but things aren't going to stay like they are." Meanwhile, he told the FT how he uses AI in his own life, saying OpenAI's ChatGPT is his product of choice. While he mostly uses the chatbot for research, Hinton revealed that a former girlfriend used ChatGPT "to tell me what a rat I was" during their breakup. "She got the chatbot to explain how awful my behavior was and gave it to me. I didn't think I had been a rat, so it didn't make me feel too bad . . . I met somebody I liked more, you know how it goes," he quipped. Hinton also explained why he left Google in 2023. While media reports have said he quit so he could speak more freely about the dangers of AI, the 77-year-old Nobel laureate denied that was the reason. "I left because I was 75, I could no longer program as well as I used to, and there's a lot of stuff on Netflix I haven't had a chance to watch," he said. "I had worked very hard for 55 years, and I felt it was time to retire . . . And I thought, since I am leaving anyway, I could talk about the risks."

Why AI's 'Godfather' Thinks Huge Job Losses Are Inevitable

Hinton also pooh-poohed the idea of paying people a universal basic income as recompense for the AI-decimated job market -- an idea that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has voiced in the past. Hinton thinks people still derive personal value from their jobs, and while UBI can of course deal with issues like paying the bills, it can't fill up any voids AI creates in "human dignity." Hinton has previously hedged a little about the AI threat, noting that while it'll certainly impact mundane workplace tasks first, some jobs that require high skill levels will be safe. And in his new interview, he admitted that no one really knows exactly what's going to happen with AI: "people who tell you what is going to happen are just being silly." We are at a "point in history where something amazing is happening," he said, adding that "it may be amazingly good, and it may be amazingly bad." Even with his decades of experience, he admitted even he's not sure, noting that "we can make guesses, but things aren't going to stay like they are." Still, recent jobs data show that AI is already having a significant impact on the jobs market -- and in almost exactly the ways Hinton said that the AI transformation would begin, per an extensive report at CNBC. The news outlet cites a study by labor research firm Revelio labs that showed that postings for entry-level jobs across the U.S. have slipped by about 35 percent since January 2023. It notes that job losses among very young workers, aged 16 to 24, are rising as the "U.S. labor market hits its roughest patch since the pandemic." The January 2023 date for this data is significant, since it marks a period just after the launch of market-leading AI tool ChatGPT in late 2022. CNBC also points out that the impact on entry-level jobs will, over time, impact many higher rungs on the career ladder since it upends traditional training and experience-gaining pathways for young people to develop their career. And as AI tools get more sophisticated over time, it's possible they'll also begin to directly impact more skilled jobs that go beyond mundane entry-level tasks.

'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Warns Of Job Losses, But Not Because Of Technology: 'That's Not AI's Fault, That Is The Capitalist System'

Enter your email to get Benzinga's ultimate morning update: The PreMarket Activity Newsletter Geoffrey Hinton, known as the "godfather of AI," has voiced concerns over artificial intelligence leading to widespread unemployment and increased profits. AI Will Replace Workers, Says Hinton The Nobel laureate and former Google scientist believes AI will replace workers, enriching a few while impoverishing many. Hinton attributes this to the capitalist system rather than AI itself, according to an interview in the Financial Times. "What's actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers," Hinton said. "It's going to create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits. It will make a few people much richer and most people poorer. That's not AI's fault, that is the capitalist system." Short-Term Profits Over Long-Term Impacts In his interview, Hinton highlighted that AI companies prioritize short-term profits over long-term impacts. Although layoffs haven't surged yet, evidence suggests AI is reducing job opportunities, particularly for recent graduates. A survey by the New York Fed indicates companies using AI prefer retraining employees over firing them, but layoffs are anticipated to rise soon. Hinton also noted that healthcare might remain unaffected by AI-driven job losses, suggesting increased efficiency could lead to more accessible healthcare. He dismissed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's proposal for a universal basic income, arguing it doesn't address human dignity. Hinton has consistently warned about AI's risks, including potential misuse for harmful purposes, and criticized the lack of regulation in the U.S. compared to China. See Also: Trump's Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Proposes Eased Regulations For Autonomous Driving: 'America Must Lead...' AI Still Beneficial, Says Hinton Despite these concerns, Hinton acknowledged AI's potential benefits and shared his personal use of OpenAI's ChatGPT for research. He also clarified that his departure from Google was due to retirement, not to freely discuss AI risks. Bill Gates And Elon Musk On AI The debate on AI's impact on employment is intensifying. Tech leaders like Bill Gates and Elon Musk have expressed varying views, with some suggesting AI could enhance productivity rather than cause distress. For instance, Alorica, a customer-service company, uses AI to communicate in multiple languages, yet continues hiring aggressively. Meanwhile, Altman has stated that AI can perform entry-level tasks and urges the next generation to embrace AI technology. Altman believes that while jobs may evolve, opportunities will persist, contrasting with investor Vinod Khosla's prediction that AI could replace a significant portion of job tasks. Read Next: Elon Musk's Tesla Receives 600 Orders In India, Falling Short Of Expectations: Report Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: YAKOBCHUK V on Shutterstock.com Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

'Godfather of AI' warns tech will bring massive unemployment: 'A few...

The "Godfather of AI" warned that the technology's rapid adoption will unleash massive unemployment -- hurting the poorest people the most if safe scalability is not prioritized. Geoffrey Hinton -- a former Google whiz who last year won the Nobel Prize in physics for paving the way for the powerful AI systems we have today -- said the CEOs pushing the technology as a possible solution to problems like hunger, poverty and disease are full of it. "What's actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers," Hinton told the Financial Times. "It's going to create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits. It will make a few people much richer and most people poorer. That's not AI's fault, that's the capitalist system." Hinton, a self-avowed socialist, has been campaigning against the fervent AI race since leaving Google's Brain team in 2023. He joined the company a decade earlier after it bought his company for $44 million. Hinton, who spent two decades working at the University of Toronto, said many scientists agree that AI will become superintelligent, or able to outperform humans, in five to 20 years. He has previously issued dire warnings about the technology's powerful capabilities, and has advocated for a pause in AI development. Engineering AI to act like mothers is "the only hope" for humanity, "because the mother is very concerned about the baby, preserving the life of the baby," he said. Nonetheless, the London-born academic admitted to using AI in his daily life - for everything from scientific research to fixing his dryer. "I am 77 and the end is coming for me soon anyway," he said. Tech leaders like Elon Musk and Sam Altman, meanwhile, are full-steam ahead in the AI race. When asked which of the two he trusts more, Hinton borrowed a 2016 quote from Lindsey Graham when asked to choose between Donald Trump or Ted Cruz to run for president: "It's like being shot or poisoned." He added that he's not optimistic about government intervention, as the US already has a relaxed regulatory stance on the industry. When asked about a futuristic scenario in which humans live among AI robots, and slowly transform into cyborgs ourselves, with added artificial parts and chemicals, Hinton simply responded: "What's wrong with that?" Asked whether that's a form of extinction, Hinton said: "Yep." "We are at a point in history where something amazing is happening, and it may be amazingly good, and it may be amazingly bad. We can make guesses, but things aren't going to stay like they are."