Godfather of AI on Bill Gates and Elon Musk

Godfather of AI on Bill Gates and Elon Musk

Who is the “Godfather of AI”?

Geoffrey Hinton is often called the “Godfather of AI.” He is a British–Canadian computer scientist whose research on neural networks and deep learning helped create today’s modern AI systems. Because of his pioneering work in machine learning, he is now a Nobel laureate. Wikipedia Source.

Hinton worked for many years with big tech companies. In 2023, he left his job at Google so that he could speak more freely about the dangers and risks of advanced AI.

What did Bill Gates and Elon Musk say about AI?

Tech billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk have made bold predictions about the future of work. They believe AI will become so powerful that many people may not need to work in the traditional sense.

Bill Gates has talked about a world where humans are not needed for most jobs. Elon Musk has gone even further, predicting that in less than 20 years people may not have to work at all unless they want to. In their view, AI could handle almost every task that is done by humans today.

Hinton: “They are probably right” – but there is a catch

In a recent interview with Fortune, Geoffrey Hinton said that Bill Gates and Elon Musk are “probably right” about how far AI can go in replacing human work. If machines become as smart as humans, then almost any job could, in theory, be done by AI.

However, Hinton’s main concern is not just that jobs will change. He fears that millions of jobs could disappear and that many people could be left without work, income, or security. He agrees that AI can do a lot, but he worries about who will benefit from this power.

Rich get richer, workers get replaced

Hinton says big companies are not building AI mainly to make life easier for workers. They are doing it to increase profit. If a company can use AI instead of hiring people, its costs go down and its profit goes up.

According to Hinton, this means the rich owners of these technologies may become even richer. At the same time, many workers may lose their jobs and find it very hard to get new ones. The danger is a world where wealth is concentrated at the top, and the gap between rich and poor becomes much wider.

Even in niche areas like domain investing and online business, there are signs that AI-driven tools and data are changing how money flows on the internet. . Hinton’s warning fits into this larger picture: AI may quietly reshape who earns and who is left behind.

Will AI create new jobs?

Hinton does admit that AI will create new kinds of work. There will be jobs in AI development, AI safety, maintenance, data management, and more. This is similar to past technology waves, where some jobs disappeared but new ones appeared.

But his view is clear: the number of new jobs will probably not match the number of jobs lost. In other words, even if AI creates opportunities, it may still cause massive unemployment overall. For many people, there might simply not be enough work to go around.

The future of AI: Like driving in heavy fog

Hinton also warns that nobody truly knows what will happen next. He says predicting the future of AI is like “driving in fog.” When you drive in thick fog, you can see clearly only a short distance ahead. Beyond that, everything is unclear.

In the same way, Hinton believes we can guess what might happen in the next one or two years with AI. But when we talk about 10 years or more, we are almost blind. Things could become much better than we expect—or much worse. That is why he says all predictions, including his own, should be treated with caution.

From insider to critic

Hinton’s journey makes his warning even more serious. He was one of the key builders of modern AI, and last year in 2024 he received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to machine learning. Yet today he is one of the loudest voices warning about the risks of the same technology.

By stepping away from his role at Google, he chose to speak openly about issues like mass unemployment, inequality, and the misuse of AI. He is not against AI itself; instead, he is against a future where AI is used mainly to increase profits while ordinary people suffer.

What should society do now?

If Gates and Musk are right about AI replacing most work, and Hinton is right about mass unemployment, then our societies need to prepare. That could mean:

• new social safety nets for people who lose their jobs,
• stronger rules on how companies use AI,
• fairer ways to share the profits created by AI, and
• serious public debate on what “work” should mean in the future.

The “Godfather of AI” is not saying we must stop AI. He is saying we must guide it carefully and fairly. Bill Gates and Elon Musk describe a world where AI can do almost everything. Geoffrey Hinton reminds us to ask a crucial question: in that world, what will happen to the people?