Former Google executive issues CHILLING warning on AI: ‘Unless you are in…’
Mo Gawdat, who left Google X as its chief business officer in 2018, said things would go quite bad in just a couple of years as the rapidly-evolving technology eliminates white-collar jobs. He added that the middle-class would soon cease to exist. Read on to know more on this.
The ex-Google executive’s warnings come as job cuts continue to take place across major companies around the world.
A former top executive at Google has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could disrupt society so much so that the middle-class may be rendered non-existent. Mo Gawdat, who had left Google X as its chief business officer in 2018, said things would go quite bad in just a couple of years as the rapidly-evolving technology eliminates white-collar jobs, including those of software developers, podcasters, and even top-level executives like CEOs. “The next 15 years will be hell before we get to heaven,” Gawdat told British entrepreneur Steven Bartlett on his podcast, Diary of a CEO.
What did Mo Gawdat say about AI?
Gawdat cited his own startup, dubbed Emma.love, which builds emotional and relationship-focused AI, saying the firm is run by just three people. “That startup would have been 350 developers in the past,” he said. “As a matter of fact, podcaster is going to be replaced,” he told Bartlett. He warned AI will lead to “social unrest” as people come to terms with losing their livelihoods and sense of purpose. This will lead to an increase in rates of mental health problems, including more loneliness and deepening social divisions, he added.
What will be AI’s impact on the middle class?
Gawdat went on to predict that the middle class would cease to exist in the near future. “Unless you’re in the top 0.1 percent, you’re a peasant. There is no middle class,” he said on the podcast. “AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) is going to get better at everything than humans, at everything, including being a CEO. The one thing they don’t think of is AI will replace them, too.” The ex-Google executive’s warnings come as job cuts continue to take place across major companies around the world. Recently, Geoffrey Hinton, who is widely regarded as the “godfather of AI,” said the technology may soon develop its own language which humans might fail to comprehend.
