‘Godfather of AI’ says Bill Gates and Elon Musk are right about the future of work – but predicts mass unemployment is on the way

The long-term impact of artificial intelligence is one of the hottest topics in Silicon Valley. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang predicts that every job will change — and possibly lead to a 4-day work week. Other tech titans go even further: Bill Gates says people may soon not be needed “for a lot of things” and Elon Musk believes most people won’t need to work “in less than 20 years.”

While those predictions may seem extreme, they’re not only plausible, they’re possible, said Geoffrey Hinton — the British computer scientist widely known as “the godfather of AI.” He warned that the transition could trigger a sweeping economic overhaul that would leave millions of workers behind.

“A large number of people are likely to see massive unemployment caused by AI,” Hinton said in a recent discussion with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at Georgetown University.

“And if you ask where these guys get the trillions of dollars to invest in data centers and chips… one of the main sources of money is selling AI to people who will make workers’ jobs much cheaper. And so these guys are betting on AI to replace more workers.”

Hinton has been increasingly vocal about what he sees as Big Tech’s misplaced priorities. industry, he said recently fateDriven less by scientific progress than by short-term profits – the push to replace human workers with cheaper AI systems.

His warning comes as the economics of AI face renewed scrutiny. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is not expected to turn a profit until at least 2030 and may need more than $207 billion to support its growth, according to HSBC estimates.

The future of AI lies behind the fog of war

Hinton’s journey from AI insider to outspoken critic underscores the high stakes of the technology he helped create. Since leaving his job at Google in 2023 to speak out about the risks of AI, he has become one of the most prominent skeptics. His pioneering work in machine learning earned him the Nobel Prize last year.

He also acknowledged that AI will create new jobs, as many tech leaders predicted. But he added that he doesn’t expect the number of new roles to come close to the number eliminated. Still, he cautioned that all predictions — including his own — should be treated with heavy skepticism.

“Trying to predict its future is going to be very difficult,” he told Sanders. “It’s a bit like driving in fog. You can see clearly up to 100 yards and you can’t see anything at 200 yards. Well, we can see clearly for a year or two, but after 10 years, we don’t know.”

What’s clear, however, is that AI isn’t going away, and experts say workers who adapt—and use technology to expand their skills—will stand the best chance of navigating the coming turmoil.

100 million jobs at risk, Bernie Sanders warns

Sanders has tried to scale the stakes. In a report released in October — based in part on estimates generated by ChatGPT — he warned that nearly 100 million American jobs could be displaced by automation. Workers in fast food, customer service, and manual labor face some of the highest risks, but white-collar roles in accounting, software development, and nursing could also see significant cuts.

“It’s not just economics,” Sanders wrote in an op-ed Fox News. “Work, whether being a janitor or a brain surgeon, is an integral part of being human. Most people want to be productive members of society and contribute to their communities. What happens when that important aspect of human existence is removed from our lives?”

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) has raised similar alarms, warning that the shutdown could hit young people first and hardest — with unemployment among recent college graduates potentially reaching 25% in the next two to three years.

“Look at the fact that we’ve never done anything on social media,” Warner said CNBC. “If we react the same way to AI and don’t put up railings, I think we’re going to rue that day.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com