Geoffrey Hinton, known as the "father of AI" and a pioneer in the field of machine learning, has just warned that AI can make technology billionaires like Elon Musk richer than ever, while millions of workers face the risk of unemployment due to automation.
In an interview with Bloomberg's Wall Street Week, Hinton stated that the most obvious way to make money from AI is to replace human labor.
According to him, large corporations are racing to apply AI not only to innovate but also to cut staff, which is clearly happening in the technology industry.
Amazon alone has recently announced at least 14,000 cuts, with much of the division being replaced by AI.
Although he acknowledged that AI can bring great benefits in education and healthcare, Hinton believes that the problem lies in the way society organizes and distributes profits.
Hinton is also concerned that, unlike previous technological stages, AI could erase a series of jobs without creating enough new jobs to compensate.
He gave an example: Previously, if you lost your unskilled job, you could still switch to another job like being a reporter. But now, both jobs have been replaced by AI.
While some economists believe the change will create new opportunities, Hinton was pessimistic: I think companies are betting on AI replacing humans because that is where profits come from.
Hinton's warning comes amid technology giants like Microsoft, Google and Meta pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI development.
According to him, "the leaders of these corporations are very practical, they will not pour billions of dollars into AI if they do not see great profits from it".
Hinton also believes that technology corporations all want to be pioneers, even if that could cost all of humanity.
In the long run, Hinton believes that humans and AI can still coexist if they know how to learn to survive.
He also commented that the US is still leading the AI race, but the gap with other countries is gradually narrowing. With outstanding training speed for engineers and scientists, other technology powers can completely reverse the global AI balance of power in the next decade.
