Artificial intelligence could have a profound impact on employment, with AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton warning that the technology could lead to widespread unemployment and leave millions of people without jobs.
Hinton, widely known as the “godfather of AI,” said in a speech at Georgetown University that companies were investing heavily in AI infrastructure, including data centers and chips, to accelerate automation.
He said businesses would eventually seek returns on those investments by selling AI systems capable of performing tasks currently handled by human workers at a lower cost.
Hinton said the drive for profits could encourage companies to replace employees with AI tools. While AI would also create new jobs, he argued that the number of new positions was unlikely to match the number of jobs displaced.
The computer scientist acknowledged that predicting the long-term consequences of AI remains extremely difficult.
He said no one can accurately predict what the technology will look like a decade from now, making uncertainty a major part of the debate over its future.
Hinton’s concerns echo predictions from other prominent technology figures. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said AI could affect almost every profession and potentially shorten working hours.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has predicted that humans could gradually become unnecessary for many tasks, while Elon Musk has suggested that most people may not need to work within the next two decades.
Hinton, a professor at the University of Toronto, won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for work that helped lay the foundations of modern machine learning.
is research played a key role in developing neural-network technology that allows computers to perform tasks associated with human intelligence.
In recent years, however, Hinton has become one of the most prominent voices warning about AI risks. He left Google in 2023 after raising concerns that the technology could be misused by bad actors to harm others.
Hinton has previously estimated a 10% to 20% chance that AI could gradually lead to the extinction of humanity, while stressing the importance of discussing potential risks.
He has also warned that advanced AI systems could eventually become more intelligent than humans, possibly within two decades.
He has compared the potential impact of AI with the Industrial Revolution, saying that increasingly powerful machines replaced aspects of human physical strength.
AI, he argues, could similarly begin replacing aspects of human intelligence, potentially allowing machines to advance beyond human capabilities.
Hinton said the future impact of AI would depend heavily on how political systems respond to the technology. He acknowledged that AI could bring major benefits to medicine and increase productivity across almost every industry, but said its rapid development requires greater caution.
