Bill Gates has warned the continued development of artificial intelligence and robots will cause widespread job losses – including in manual labour.
The billionaire founder of Microsoft said that both ‘white-collar work’ and the ‘skills of physical human labour’ were at risk.
He blamed the ‘incentive structure’ of businesses looking to increase their profits. ‘It’s hire the robot, fire the human and don’t look back,’ said Mr Gates.
AI has already been costing jobs over the past few years, particularly in office work, as it sweeps up data-driven analytical roles such as software development, data entry and customer service.
Last week Barclays bank announced it would replace 5,000 jobs – 5 per cent of its global workforce – with AI by the end of the year to cut costs.
It came after the head of the International Monetary Fund last week described AI as ‘a slow-moving tsunami’ that would wipe out jobs around the world and destroy opportunities for the young in particular, who used to do the entry-level menial work that the technology already excels at at very little cost.
Bill Gates has warned that the continued development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robots will cause widespread job losses
But Mr Gates warned physical labour, such as construction or factory work, could also be at risk as humanoid robots become more common.
The billionaire also argued AI could soon overtake humans as the most intelligent things on the planet.
He told The Observer that the ‘skills of invention, skills of white-collar work and then with humanoids, the skills of physical human labour’ could all be replaced by AI.
Mr Gates said governments would need to adapt to be able to deal with mass unemployment through education and re-skilling.
Despite the technology likely leading to more ‘prosperity’, governments would have less money to deal with the fallout of huge job losses, Mr Gates warned.
He said that these challenges would be presented at a time of competing priorities for states as geopolitical tensions continue to rise.
He said: ‘You could say this isn’t the best time to say, “Hey, rich countries, let’s do the hardest thing you’ve ever done”.’
He also predicted that by the end of the 2020s AI could be operating beyond human control, which could mean that AI could operate against human interests.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman talks with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in September
In September, a British researcher at a major AI company quit, warning that the ‘out of control’ tech could ‘kill us all’.
Jacob Coxon, who helped train the latest versions of AI at San Francisco-based Anthropic, urged people to ‘not underestimate’ its power – particularly if it becomes ‘super-intelligent’.
The 27-year-old claims neither Anthropic, the firm behind the popular Claude system, nor ChatGPT creators OpenAI, where he previously worked, were ‘acting responsibly’ over AI safety.
Superintelligence is the point at which an artificial system becomes more powerful than any individual, company or even nation.
It is expected Chancellor John Healey will commit millions of pounds in next week’s Budget to guard against the risks of AI while aiming to harness its power for economic advantage across the UK.
Ahead of his maiden statement on Wednesday, he said AI would ‘transform daily life’ and ‘every firm, community, hospital, school and every aspect of our economy’ could benefit from AI.
He said he understood growing concerns that AI would take away people’s jobs which is why he would be ‘setting out a distinctively British approach to AI – one that doesn’t leave workers behind and defends our national interest, while ensuring the benefits of AI-enabled growth are felt right across the country’.
A new AI Centre of Excellence in Manchester is planned alongside AI investments in areas including Edinburgh.
The Government will also spend £300million backing an AI Biosecurity Lab which will look at protections from emerging biological threats.
The lab will be a public-private partnership supported by leading AI developers including OpenAI and Anthropic.
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