- Former Google exec Mo Gawdat warns AI will eliminate white-collar jobs by 2027
- AI will disrupt society, making the middle class effectively non-existent
- Gawdat’s AI startup runs with three people, previously needing 350 developers
A former Google top executive has warned that the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) could disrupt society as the technology eats away jobs, rendering the middle class non-existent. Mo Gawdat, who left Google X as its chief business officer in 2018, said the 'hell' will begin as early as 2027 as AI eliminates white-collar jobs, with no one spared, including software developers, CEOs, and podcasters.
"The next 15 years will be hell before we get to heaven," Mr Gawdat told British entrepreneur Steven Bartlett on his "Diary of a CEO" podcast.
Citing his own startup, Emma.love, which builds emotional and relationship-focused AI, Mr Gawdat said the company is run by just three people.
"That startup would have been 350 developers in the past. As a matter of fact, podcaster is going to be replaced."
Mr Gawdat said the emergence of AI will trigger 'social unrest' as people still come to terms with losing their livelihoods and sense of purpose, resulting in rising rates of mental health problems, increased loneliness and deepening social divisions.
"Unless you're in the top 0.1 per cent, you're a peasant. There is no middle class," he predicted.
"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."
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AI's own language
The warning by Mr Gawdat comes in the backdrop of Geoffrey Hinton, regarded by many as the 'godfather of AI', stating that the technology could soon develop its own language, making it impossible for humans to track the machines.
"Now it gets more scary if they develop their own internal languages for talking to each other," said Mr Hinton.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they developed their own language for thinking, and we have no idea what they're thinking."
Mr Hinton added that AI has already demonstrated that it can think terrible thoughts, and it is not unthinkable that the machines could eventually think in ways that humans cannot track or interpret.
