- Former Google Vice President Jeffrey Hinton: “People gain self-esteem through their work''
- He called for universal basic income to pay rent and stop people from going hungry.
A technology pioneer behind the rise of AI has said people should be paid a universal basic income to counter the controversial technology's devastating impact on jobs.
Former Google vice president Jeffrey Hinton said AI and robots would be “very bad for society” because the millions of workers displaced by technology would not be able to enjoy the wealth of soaring productivity. he said.
“I certainly believe in a universal basic income,” the academic said on BBC Newsnight.
“But I don't think that's enough, because many people derive their self-esteem from their work.”
He added: “Paying everyone a universal basic income will solve the problem of people going hungry and not being able to pay their rent, but it won't solve the problem of self-esteem.”
The expert, who said he raised the idea of a universal basic income in Downing Street, warned that many blue-collar and “middle-class intellectual jobs” would be lost to AI, but plumbing He predicted that there might be safety from large-scale demonstrations. robot.
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“The safest job I can think of is plumbing, because these jobs are plumbing.” [AI] “I’m not very good at physical manipulation yet,” he said. “That's probably the last thing they do best.”
His warning comes as the International Monetary Fund predicts that 40 percent of jobs around the world will be affected by AI. The Institute for Public Policy Research has also stated that 8 million jobs could be lost in the UK due to the introduction of AI in the workplace.
Hinton, who left Google in 2023 to sound the alarm on AI, said he was glad the world was beginning to take AI's “existential threat” to humanity and its impact on society seriously. Told.
“I'm very concerned that AI will take away a lot of everyday jobs,” he says. “That would be nice. It would be great if it led to a huge increase in productivity, which led to a huge increase in wealth, and that wealth was distributed equally, but that's not the case.
“The system we live in means that that wealth will flow to the rich rather than the people who have lost their jobs, and I believe that is very bad for society.
“The gap between rich and poor will widen, increasing the chances that right-wing populists will be elected,” he warned.
Just days ago, Sainsbury's signed a deal with Microsoft to use the tech giant's AI tools to improve the shopping experience for customers and save time so staff can focus on important tasks.
And on Tuesday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak will co-host a virtual session with South Korean President Yoon Seok-yol, including world leaders and heads of technology companies.
Mr Sunak is expected to say, “To maximize the benefits of AI, we need to work together to ensure it is safe.''
A Whitehall official said: “The UK continues to demonstrate global leadership on one of the defining technological and social challenges of our time.” “If managed safely, AI will continue to improve our quality of life and grow our economy,” the official added.
