INCOME tax could be made redundant in as little as five years as advancements in AI replace workers, the boss of a major bank has said.
Tom Blomfield, the chief of digital bank Monzo, said a job crisis caused by artificial intelligence could see the tax replaced, with a tax placed on computer systems instead.
“I think income tax will go away pretty soon, it’s sort of five to six year time horizon,” he told listeners of The Rest is Money podcast.
Instead, the founder said data centres would be taxed instead to pay for the government.
The boss at the online bank with over 15million customers said workers in knowledge based roles that involves things such as analysis could see their roles in jeopardy in the near future.
He added that workers in roles that involve physical labour such as plumbers or electricians are still valuable to the economy, but these roles are still at risk when “robotics come”.
He said: “And robotics is probably on a seven to 10 year time frame in my mind, the roll out will be slower because you need to manufacture the things.”
“But I think once you have a super intelligent AI and pervasive robotics, humans are not economically useful anymore.”
Blomfield is the latest big wig to share his thoughts on how advancements in AI could shape the modern working world.
Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI, the maker of the popular tool, said last week that workers should get a four-day week with no pay cut due to AI speeding up workflow.
The billionaire boss said that productivity gains from AI should be converted into shorter working weeks for employees who may be affected.
This could look like incentivising employers to run 32-hour or four-day workweek pilots with no loss in pay, according to Altman.
The powerful tool, that can process large amounts of data at speed, has already led to a number of job cuts across the globe.
Amazon has cut up to 30,000 jobs in the past six months and PwC has slimmed down its global workforce by 5,600 in the year to June 30.
Last year, the government launched an AI Opportunities Action Plan, which includes “AI growth zones” and an up skill drive that should see 10million workers with key AI skills by 2030.
How to avoid losing your job to AI
By Adele Cooke, senior consumer reporter
Although many companies are looking to cut costs and reduce their headcount, there are still things you can do to protect yourself.
Learning about AI and how to use it can help you remain employable.
It can be helpful if the company makes a change to its processes or increases your workload.
Knowing how to use AI now can also help you to free up time to focus on other tasks.
You should also focus on developing your creativity and ideas.
Although AI can be creative, its ideas are often unoriginal or identical, which is bad news if you work in a creative industry.
Focus on the areas where your talent and creativity set you apart from AI.
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