AI Could Replace 80% of Jobs in Near Future, Expert Warns

AI expert predicts 80% job replacement in the coming years due to AI, emphasizing a positive shift in human focus from work to fulfillment.

During the world’s biggest annual technology conference, “Web Summit”, recently held in Rio de Janeiro, a renowned AI researcher, and scientist, Ben Goertzel, expressed his views on AI replacing human jobs and how that’s a good thing for all.

Ben, during the interview with AFP, said that he could see AI replacing almost 80% of human jobs in the coming years since Artificial General Intelligence (AI with human cognitive abilities) is not decades but only a few years away.

When Goertzel was questioned, “Isn’t their potential (AI) to replace people’s jobs a threat?” he answered, “You could probably obsolete maybe 80 per cent of jobs that people do without having an AGI, by my guess. Not with ChatGPT exactly as a product. But with systems of that nature, which will 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… Pretty much every job involving paperwork should be automatable.”

He is all praises for AI technology, openly supports the development of AI systems for the future, and disagrees with the other experts who want a “pause” on the development of advanced AI systems.

In the wake of a joint open letter signed by numerous tech leaders, including Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawking, a prominent AI researcher echoes concerns and calls for a temporary halt in AI development. 

The letter contends that the rapid advancement of technology has led to a potentially perilous race among companies, posing significant risks to society and humanity at large.

Upon asking about the risks that AI like ChatGPT poses to human existence and the efforts of putting a pause on the research and development of AI, he voiced, “I don’t think we should pause it because it’s like a dangerous superhuman AI… These are very interesting AI systems, but they need to be more capable of becoming like human-level general intelligence because they can’t do complex multi-stage reasoning like you need to do science. They can’t invent wild new things outside the scope of their training data.”

He also highlighted the point of these AI systems being used for spreading misinformation and advocated,

“They can also spread misinformation, and people are saying we should pause them because of this. That’s very weird to me. Why haven’t we banned the internet? The internet does exactly this. It gives you way more information at your fingertips. And it spreads bullshit and misinformation. I think we should have a free society. And just like the internet shouldn’t be banned, we shouldn’t ban this.”

Who’s Ben Goertzel?

Ben Goertzel is the founder and chief executive of a research group called SingularityNET, launched to create Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). He is a renowned robot creator and was present at the Summit to unleash his latest creation, a robotic nurse called Grace, who will care for older people in their care homes.

Contrary to other tech tycoons advocating for a pause in AI development due to its surpassing intelligence, this mathematician and cognitive scientist expresses disagreement. 

He argues that while current AI systems are impressive, they lack the ability for complex multi-stage reasoning and generating novel ideas beyond their training data. 

According to him, true human-level intelligence and agility in dealing with the unknown will require machines to make significant leaps beyond their programming, a milestone that is still years away.

Addressing concerns about AI-generated misinformation and realistic images going viral, he dismisses the idea of halting technological progress as a solution. Drawing parallels to the internet, he points out that it provides vast amounts of information, including false information, yet society has not opted to ban it. 

He advocates for a free society where AI development continues, believing that restrictions are not the answer, just as the internet has not been banned despite its dissemination of falsehoods.