AI could replace up to 8 in 10 jobs, expert says

An expert said that artificial intelligence could replace up to 8 in 10 jobs “in the next few years.”

Researcher Ben Goertzel, the founder and chief executive officer of SingularityNET, said in a new interview with AFP that he does not believe artificial intelligence (AI) is a threat to jobs, but rather a benefit. He also said he opposed proposals that would pause ChatGPT for a temporary amount of time, saying that misinformation that is spread on the platform is no different than on the internet.

“You could probably obsolete maybe 80 percent of jobs that people do, without having an AGI, by my guess,” he said. “Not with ChatGPT exactly as a product. But with systems of that nature, which are going to follow in the next few years.”

“I don’t think it’s a threat. I think it’s a benefit. People can find better things to do with their life than work for a living,” he added.

He also said that AI-powered robots, like robot nurses, could benefit some settings where people want to be listened to or have their questions answered.

“In that case, you’re not eliminating human jobs. Because basically, there’s not enough people who want to do nursing and nursing assistant jobs,” he said.

ChatGPT and other emerging AI platforms have grown in popularity over the last few months, with tech giants like Microsoft and Google introducing new AI features. IBM launched its latest AI program Tuesday, promising a wide range of tools that will allow companies “to train, tune and deploy AI models.”

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna also said in an interview last month that he expects AI to replace about 30 percent of the jobs at IBM, which would be about 7,800 positions. Recent research has also shown that 80 percent of jobs can have at least 10 percent of their work affected by the implementation of large language models.