Artificial intelligence may cause mass unemployment, says Geoffrey Hinton; 'Godfather of AI' reveals 'safe' jobs

The “Godfather of AI”, Geoffrey Hinton, recently stated that some professions are safer than others when it comes to being replaced by AI.

In an interview on the podcast "Diary of a CEO", which aired on Monday, Hinton said AI has the potential to cause mass joblessness, especially in white-collar jobs.

AI might replace all white-collar jobs

Hinton reiterated his point on AI superiority. "I think for mundane intellectual labour, AI is just going to replace everybody," he said.

"Mundane intellectual labour" refers to white-collar jobs. He also specified that AI would take the form of a person and do the work that 10 people did previously.

Blue-collar work ‘safe’ right now

Hinton said that he would be "terrified" to work in a call centre 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 AI is as good at physical manipulation," Hinton said in the podcast. “So, a good bet would be to be a plumber.”

Hinton challenges notion of AI creating new jobs

In the podcast, Hinton also challenged the notion that AI would create new jobs, mentioning that if AI automated intellectual tasks, there would be few jobs left for people to do.

A person has to be very skilled to have a job that AI just couldn't do," Hinton said.

Who is Geoffrey Hinton?

Geoffrey Hinton, 78, is given the title of “Godfather of AI” due to his work on neural networks, which he started in the late 1970s. 

He won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on machine learning (ML) and is currently teaching computer science at the University of Toronto.

AI might no longer be aid to human efforts

The interview comes just after OpenAI announced its restructuring plans in which the company’s for-profit arm will become a public benefit corporation (PBC), in an attempt to appease the company’s investors.

OpenAI said that the plan will allow it to raise more capital to keep pace in the expensive AI race, reported Reuters.

However, a group of critics raised concerns claiming that the plan" might be a step in the right direction", yet it does not adequately ensure that OpenAI sticks to its original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.

The critics include Geoffrey Hinton and former OpenAI employees. They objected to OpenAI's proposed reorganisation because they said it would have put investors' profit motives ahead of the public good.

OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk, who now is a competitor through his company xAI, also objected to the proposal on the same grounds, and is suing OpenAI for breaching the company’s founding contract, reported Reuters.