(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) A recent report from Goldman Sachs estimated that 300 million jobs may be completely or partially taken over by artificial intelligence, as automated robots and other machines eliminate the need for human workers.
“If generative AI delivers on its promised capabilities, the labor market could face significant disruption,” the report read. “Using data on occupational tasks in both the US and Europe, we find that roughly two-thirds of current jobs are exposed to some degree of AI automation, and that generative AI could substitute up to one-fourth of current work.”
Several notable names in tech have come forward with warnings about the consequences of developing artificial intelligence, asserting that it may pose even greater threats to not just the labor market, but all of humanity.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt advised governments to step in while the technology was still in the early stages of development to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.
“Existential risk is defined as many, many, many, many people harmed or killed,” Schmidt said at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in London. “There are scenarios not today, but reasonably soon, where these systems will be able to find zero-day exploits in cyber issues, or discover new kinds of biology.”
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned that AI could invade and conquer search engines such as Google if AI took on menial tasks such as shopping, searching and even reading.
“Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s the big thing, because you will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you’ll never go to Amazon again,” Gates said during a Goldman Sachs event on AI.
Both Republican and Democrat politicians called for increased regulations on artificial intelligence technology, and called on big tech executives to do their part in containing the threat as well.
“I think we do have a role to play. In the long run, I think what we could do is set up, you know, an agency here,” said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.
“They can negotiate on behalf of the American people, so we can actually have a negotiation about privacy. In the near term, I think it’s going to be important for tech to police itself.”
