- Stuart Russell warns AI could replace skilled jobs including top executives and surgeons
- AI systems now perform complex work traditionally done by humans, challenging job security
- AI-powered robots may surpass human surgeons by learning surgical skills in seconds
Stuart Russell, Professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley and President of the International Association for Safe & Ethical AI, is attending the India AI Summit, hosted by NDTV on Wednesday.
NDTV will speak with several leaders at the event, including former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer limited to simple tasks and is now capable of performing work traditionally done by humans, the AI pioneer warned earlier.
He highlighted that AI's rapid advancement could take away jobs of highly skilled professionals, including top executives and surgeons.
Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Russell, co-author of the acclaimed book Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, said, "AI systems are doing pretty much everything we currently call work."
AI is also challenging roles that require complex decision-making and expertise.
Russell suggested that AI could very well do jobs people traditionally considered safe because they required years of education. In fact, he argued that roles like coders may be replaced even sooner.
The UC Berkeley professor also said the role of a surgeon could be overtaken by AI-powered robots as they can perform surgery by learning the concept in just seconds and may perform better than any human.
"Anything you might aspire to, you want to become a surgeon, it takes the robot seven seconds to learn how to be a surgeon that's better than any human being," he added.
Russell pointed out that until now, most job losses due to AI have affected mid-level and lower-level employees. However, in the long run, even top executives such as CEOs may face pressure from AI systems.
He said the company may hand over its decision-making powers to an AI system, which can further take away the role of CEOs.
He said there are already early warning signs that AI is beginning to reshape the job market in ways many did not expect. He explained how AI systems are already outperforming humans in several areas.
From automatic cars to AI tools that write and debug code, AI machines are becoming faster and better than humans. Tech giants such as HP, IBM, Salesforce, and Klarna have cited increased automation and AI integration as part of their restructuring or job cut decisions.
Earlier, in an interview with the BBC, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said that AI may eventually take over a CEO role. "I think what a CEO does is maybe one of the easier things for an AI to do one day," he said, adding, "I think the next step in the next 12 months will see the evolution being that they are able to do more complex tasks for you."
Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman also stated that artificial intelligence could replace most white-collar jobs within the next 12-18 months. He added that most software engineers were using AI-assisted coding for most of their projects.
"White-collar work, where you're sitting down at a computer, either being, you know, a lawyer, or an accountant, or a project manager, or a marketing person, most of those tasks will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12 to 18 months," he said.
