Tech CEO Dario Amodei issued a dire warning about how dramatically AI can shift society for the worse.
Artificial intelligence company Anthropic likely has big plans to use AI going forward... but at the same time, the CEO has issued a rather dramatic warning.
Speaking to CNN, the company’s CEO Dario Amodei explained how quickly AI is learning and how this could spark massive changes in society.
Changes that most people should be very aware of and concerned with because it could fundamentally reshape how we do things. Worryingly though, it seems policymakers and corporations aren’t yet ready for it, according to him.
He said: “AI is starting to get better than humans at almost all intellectual tasks, and we’re going to collectively, as a society, grapple with it.
“AI is going to get better at what everyone does, including what I do, including what other CEOs do.
Amodei believes that the AI tools that his company and others like it are working towards building will ultimately eliminate half of the entry level white-collar jobs and spike unemployment to as much as 20% in the next one to five years.
Despite this being a massive issue, some have reservations that any company will stop racing towards their goals, regardless of the potential issues.
Speaking to Axios earlier this week, he explained this could mean the US unemployment rate would grow fivefold in just a few years.
He said: “Most of them are unaware that this is about to happen. It sounds crazy, and people just don't believe it.
Amodei even clarified why he speaking on the potential negatives of an AI-infused society going forward despite his very vested interest in the future of the industry.
He added: “We, as the producers of this technology, have a duty and an obligation to be honest about what is coming. I don't think this is on people's radar.
“It's a very strange set of dynamics where we're saying: 'You should be worried about where the technology we're building is going.’ Critics reply: ‘We don't believe you. You're just hyping it up.’"
Speaking to the skeptics, he added that those critical should simply ask themselves...what if they end up being right?
Amodei even suggested lawmakers may need to get involved sooner rather than later to help prevent some of the more negative possibilities from the wider application of artificial intelligence.