"Father of AI" warns of mass unemployment

The long-term impact of artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most hotly debated topics in Silicon Valley.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang predicts that all jobs will be transformed and the workweek could be shortened to four days. Bill Gates even believes that humans may soon no longer be needed for most things, while Elon Musk believes that most people will not have to work at all in less than 20 years.

While these predictions may seem extreme, they are not only plausible, but also likely, according to Geoffrey Hinton, a British computer scientist widely known as the “father of AI.” He warns that the shift could cause a profound economic shakeup that leaves millions of workers behind.

Speaking in a recent discussion with Senator Bernie Sanders at Georgetown University, Mr. Hinton said many people believe the world will face mass unemployment caused by AI.

Selling AI technologies that can replace human jobs at a much cheaper cost is one of the main sources of money for tech companies to raise the roughly $1 trillion they are investing in data centers and chips. And so these companies are really betting that AI will replace a lot of workers.

Mr. Hinton has become increasingly vocal about what he sees as the misguided priorities of big tech companies. He recently told Fortune magazine that the industry is driven more by short-term profits than scientific progress, fueling a trend toward replacing workers with cheaper AI systems.

His warnings come as the rapid growth of AI faces new criticism. OpenAI, maker of the AI app ChatGPT, is not expected to be profitable until at least 2030 and may need more than $207 billion to support growth, according to estimates from HSBC.

Meanwhile, in a report published in October 2025, based in part on ChatGPT’s estimates, Senator Bernie Sanders warned that nearly 100 million jobs in the US could be replaced by automation. Workers in fast food, customer service, and manual labor face some of the highest risks, but accounting, software development, and nursing positions could also see significant cuts.

According to the Future of Jobs 2023 report of the World Economic Forum (WEF), many workers' skills will be affected by new technology in the next 5 years, of which AI is the main factor.

Management consulting firm McKinsey estimates that up to 30% of current working hours could be automated by 2030, particularly in jobs that involve repetitive tasks and data processing. That means jobs like data entry, basic customer service, content moderation, and even intermediate data analysis are at risk.

The reasons are clear: AI is capable of processing huge amounts of data at speeds far beyond those of humans, and is increasingly sophisticated in generating text, images, and even programming. When businesses face pressure to cut costs, it makes sense to choose technology over humans in low-value-added areas.

In fact, a series of US technology companies in the past two years have cut staff in administrative, customer care and communications departments, citing the reason that AI can do the job more effectively.

However, viewing AI solely as a “replacement” ignores the long-term value it brings to human resources. Along with eliminating jobs, AI also creates new career opportunities.

According to auditing firm PwC, AI-based industries could contribute an additional $15.7 trillion (equivalent to an increase of 14%) to the global economy by 2030, meaning millions of new jobs in programming, data analysis, model training, ethical governance and legal issues for AI will appear.

From a business perspective, AI helps optimize labor productivity. Instead of spending hours on data entry or periodic reporting, employees can focus on strategic analysis, product innovation or deeper customer care.

Many large corporations such as Unilever or Siemens have applied AI in recruitment and human resource management, allowing to shorten the time to process documents and at the same time provide more objective assessments. In education and training, AI also supports personalization of learning programs, helping workers quickly supplement the necessary skills to adapt to change.

AI also creates new career opportunities. Illustration photo. (Source: globaltimes)

However, the application of AI also poses many challenges. First of all, there is the risk of large-scale job loss. A study by Goldman Sachs bank shows that about 300 million jobs globally could be affected by AI, especially in the service and office industries. This not only affects the income of millions of workers, but can also increase social inequality. Those with high skills and quick access to technology will benefit, while the group of unskilled or older workers is at risk of being left behind.

Another consequence is over-reliance on technology. If businesses only focus on reducing costs by replacing humans with AI, they may lose the creative, emotional and human elements - values that machines find difficult to replace.

In addition, the use of AI also raises ethical and privacy issues. AI systems can still create bias in hiring decisions or performance reviews if the training data is incomplete or lacks diversity.

On the government side, the pressure is on to quickly adjust labor and education policies. Retraining millions of workers cannot happen overnight, while the speed of AI development is far beyond the adaptability of many countries. Without a comprehensive strategy, the skills gap between labor groups will widen, creating unpredictable social instability./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/cha-de-cua-ai-canh-bao-ve-tinh-trang-that-nghiep-hang-loat-post1081205.vnp