Geoffrey Hinton reveals which jobs are at risk from AI
"If I worked in a call centre I would be terrified." AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton warns that joblessness is a real threat.
You don't need a college degree to become a plumber, but it could be one of the few jobs that artificial intelligence (AI) won't be able to replace, at least not for a while.
Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton says AI is well on its way to becoming more intelligent than humans and could soon lead to joblessness.
Hinton, who won a Nobel Prize in Physics, is considered the 'Godfather of AI' due to his early work in artificial neural networks.
He says AI poses a threat to mankind.
Speaking to Steven Bartlett on 'The Diary of a CEO', Hinton says his primary mission is to warn people about the dangers of AI.
His two main areas of concern are people misusing the technology and AI getting more intelligent than humans and deciding it doesn't need us.
Criminals have already started using AI for cyber attacks, especially phishing scams, which have become more sophisticated.
There are also concerns that AI could one day become super intelligent and turn on the very humans that created it.
Hinton likened AI to a tiger cub. "It's really cute. It's very cuddly, very interesting to watch - except that you better be sure that when it grows up, it never wants to kill you because if it ever wanted to kill you, you would be dead in a few seconds," he said.
"We simply don't know whether we can make them not want to take over and not want to hurt us. I don't think it is clear that we can, but I also think we might be able to."
Even more concerning is the effect AI will have on human career prospects.
While the technology no doubt has its benefits, especially in fields such as healthcare, it could drastically change the future of the workforce.
Hinton believes it could lead to significant joblessness. Due to AI's efficiency, many jobs will need fewer people. Hinton envisions a human and an AI assistant doing the same amount of work that 10 people could previously do.
"I think for mundane intellectual labour, AI is just going to replace everybody."
"If it can do all mundane intellectual labour, there may not be new jobs left for humans. Some creative roles might remain for a while. But the whole idea of superintelligence is that eventually, it will be better at everything.”
I think that joblessness is a fairly urgent short-term threat to human happiness. I think if you make lots and lots of people unemployed, even if they get universal basic income, they're not going to be happy because they need purpose. They need to feel they are contributing something.
Numerous jobs are at risk, from call centre agents to paralegals. "Someone like a legal assistant, a paralegal, they're not going to be needed for very long."
"If I worked in a call centre I would be terrified."
Experts have previously warned that jobs that could be easily automated with AI will slowly disappear.
However, AI would take much longer to replace blue-collar jobs.
"I'd say it's going to be a long time before it is as good at physical manipulation as us. So, a good bet would be to be a plumber," he said.
Hinton predicts that AI will reach superintelligence (when it is much smarter than humans and almost better than humans in nearly all things) in 10 to 20 years.
So, what would the AI pioneer tell his children to do if they did not have access to his wealth?
"Train to be a plumber."
Watch the full interview below.
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Main image credit: YouTube/ Diary of a CEO (with Steven Bartlett)