‘Rich people are going to use…that’s not AI’s fault’: Hinton warns of potential unemployment

Geoffrey Hinton, widely regarded as the “Godfather of AI,” has raised fresh warnings about the potential societal impact of artificial intelligence, saying the technology could lead to mass unemployment and deepen economic inequality. The AI pioneer, who is also a Nobel laureate, stressed that the effects reflect the capitalist system, rather than AI itself.

In a recent interview, Hinton said: “What’s actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers. 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, that is the capitalist system.”

Hinton has voiced similar concerns previously, noting that many AI companies focus on short-term profits rather than long-term social impact. While widespread layoffs have yet to materialise, he warned that fresh graduates and workers in routine roles may face growing challenges. A survey by the New York Federal Reserve suggests firms using AI currently prefer retraining staff over firing, though job reductions could increase in the near future.

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Healthcare, Hinton believes, may remain largely unaffected. “If you could make doctors five times as efficient, we could all have five times as much health care for the same price. There’s almost no limit to how much health care people can absorb—[patients] always want more health care if there’s no cost to it,” he told the Diary of a CEO series in June 2025.

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While some tech leaders, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, argue AI will transform rather than destroy jobs, Hinton remains sceptical, warning that new roles will not compensate for the scale of positions lost. Jobs most at risk include routine, repetitive, or “mundane intellectual” work, particularly in tech and customer service, whereas blue-collar roles, such as plumbing, may be safer in the short term.

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Hinton also dismissed the notion of universal basic income as a complete solution, arguing that pay alone cannot fulfil the human need for dignity and purpose. His warnings echo those of Elon Musk and Bill Gates, who have also suggested that AI could reduce the need for human labour in many areas, with Musk noting that universal income might allow people to pursue other meaningful activities.