--- title: "Godfather of AI Says His Creation Is About to Unleash Massive Unemployment" description: "Geoffrey Hinton, considered the \"Godfather of AI,\" is once again offering scary predictions about what AI has in store for us." date: "2025-09-09" modified: "2025-09-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/godfather-of-ai-unemployment" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Finance" - "Future Society" tags: - "ai jobs" - "geoffrey hinton" - "labor" - "Unemployment" --- # Godfather of AI Says His Creation Is About to Unleash Massive Unemployment ![Geoffrey Hinton, considered the "Godfather of AI," is once again offering scary predictions about what AI has in store for us.]() *\Image: Ramsey Cardy / Sportsfile for Collision via Getty / Futurism\* One of the most prominent pioneers of artificial intelligence has some grim predictions about what the technology he created is soon going to unleash onto humankind. Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist whose work on neural networks earned him the title of "Godfather of AI," suggested in an [interview with the *Financial Times*]() that [tech CEOs who preach positive outcomes]() for the future of AI are deluding themselves and others. "What’s actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers," Hinton told the *FT*. "It’s going to create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits. It will make a few people much richer and most people poorer." "That’s not AI’s fault," he continued. "That is the capitalist system." The former Google Brain team leader — who [left the company in 2023]() and began [making chilling premonitions]() about the future of AI — didn't provide any estimates about when this shift might happen. It's stark to imagine a world where *more* people are being replaced with AI, because that [very much]() is [already happening](), though those layoffs haven't yet [resulted in the profit boon]() that companies desire. Although OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his ilk have, as the *FT* notes, suggested [introducing a universal basic income]() (UBI) to counteract AI-induced unemployment, Hinton claimed that such a stopgap "won’t deal with human dignity" and the loss of purpose people may [experience without work](). Though timelines for this jobs armageddon weren't provided, Hinton did put dates to another forthcoming AI revolution: when the [technology could become superintelligent](), able to out-think even the cleverest humans. "A lot of scientists agree between five and 20 years," he said. "That’s the best bet." Like most of his peers in the AI world, [Hinton considers]() superintelligence an inevitability. When asked how younger generations can stay positive in the face of such a swiftly-approaching paradigm shift, he rejected calls for calm. "I’m tempted to say, 'Why should \[younger people\] stay positive?'" he mused. "Maybe they would do more if they weren’t so positive." "Suppose there was an alien invasion you could see with a telescope that would arrive in 10 years, would you be saying 'How do we stay positive?' No, you’d be saying, 'How on earth are we going to deal with this?'" Hinton continued. "If staying positive means pretending it's not going to happen, then people shouldn't stay positive." Despite describing such terrifying prospects, Hinton himself is ready to check out. "I am 77," he said, and "the end is coming for me soon anyway." **More on AI warnings**: [*Experts Concerned AI Is Going to Start a Nuclear War*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()