AI could lead to ‘short-term dystopia,' warns former Google executive
'CEOs are celebrating that they can now get rid of people and have productivity gains and cost reductions because 'AI can do that job,'' said software engineer Mo Gawdat, who previously served as chief business officer at Google, speaking on a podcast.
Gawdat says that more white-collar workers are going to be at risk of losing their jobs in this 'dystopia' scenario, and it may not be just entry-level workers either.
'The one thing they (CEOs) don't think of is AI will replace them, too,' he said.
4:18
Tech Talk: Nvidia hits a major milestone & AI shakes up the job hiring industry
Who is responsible for what AI becomes?
Although research in AI technology stretches back several decades, these modern applications have rapidly accelerated within the past couple of years. Companies behind some of the biggest AI development include META, Alphabet (Google), and OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT.
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Now that actual human jobs could be replaced in favour of AI alternatives, some business leaders and policymakers are still optimistic about the potential for job creation — but that may not be the case, according to Gawdat.
'Machines replaced human strength at a certain point in time,' he says in describing the use of machines in sectors like manufacturing and industry, and adds, 'similarly, AI is going to replace the brain of a human.'
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Gawdat also describes 'knowledge workers' in western society as 'people who work with information typed at a keyboard, clicked with a mouse, or produced with designs,' and adds: 'Everything we produce in western society can be produced by AI.'
Humans will likely have some roles alongside those of AI to provide a 'human connection,' Gawdat says, but those roles will have limitations in terms of career opportunities.
'We could see a sort of gradual shift away from these jobs rather than mass layoffs, and layoffs in the Canadian economy over the past few years have been pretty low,' says economist Brendon Bernard at Indeed during an interview with Global News on Wednesday.
'Ultimately, adoption of the technology is uncertain, and how it's applied, and whether it's applied in a way that complements workers — it's too soon to know for sure.'
The concerns about how AI could impact society and workers comes amid a period of significant global economic and political instability and uncertainty.
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In January, the Government of Canada released a report theorizing possible scenarios for social mobility in Canada by the year 2040.
Wealth inequality is one issue highlighted that could affect socioeconomic conditions, and lead to increased poverty and job losses.
In the case of Artificial Intelligence, the report theorized one potential scenario where '(by) 2040, the value of human labour has shrunk because of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is widespread and can do many things well. In creative to knowledge fields, less work is available. Most people rely on gig work and side hustles to meet their basic needs,' the government report says.
'It is hard for workers to save enough to start a business. People use AI assistants for many day-to-day tasks. They make it easier to organize work and earn money. However, the best AI assistants are expensive. This reinforces structural inequalities.'
While the report was done by a government unit that tries to map out potential scenarios that could be used to shape government planning and policies for the future, the report was not predicting that as something that would happen — rather, one that could happen.
2:09
How AI implementation impacts job numbers
How is the Canadian government responding?
The Government of Canada has also taken note of how the future could look unless changes are made.
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'AI is transforming how we work and live and how services are delivered,' the government says on its website.
'It enables computers to do things that previously could only be done by humans, such as generating written or visual materials or making important predictions, decisions and recommendations. It is increasingly being used in areas like finance, human resources and digital services.'
In addressing the need for a rapid response in creating policies surrounding the evolving technology landscape, Prime Minister Mark Carney in May appointed Evan Solomon as minister for artificial intelligence in a first.
Solomon said in his first speech after being appointed as minister that the government will be less focused on regulations and more on the economic benefits of technologies like AI, while protecting data and privacy of Canadians.
A Global News request to Solomon for his response to the assertions in the podcast, including that of an imminent 'short-term dystopia,' was not returned by publication time.
'We need to ask our governments to start not regulating AI, but regulating the use of AI,' says Gawdat.
In the meantime, Bernard said those concerned about job security should be thinking about how to develop AI skills themselves.
'Transformative changes are going to be happening at organizational levels. But I think for an individual, being able to harness these AI tools yourself is a really powerful way that you can stand out both at your current employer or to perspective employers,' says Bernard.
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'We track mentions of 'AI' in Indeed job postings, and they're more often seen in the tech sector, but we also see them increasingly in other areas of the economy as well. At the end of June we were at four per cent of Canadian job postings mentioning some form of AI in their job description, and that share has been rising quite rapidly.'
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Article content John Slipp took over his father's duty-free store in 1994, which had been started more than a decade earlier. Article content This month, he closed the Woodstock Duty Free Shop Inc. as lower traffic at the U.S.-Canada border dealt the final blow to a business already weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, at 59, Slipp says he will have to find another source of income and is advocating for more government support for stores like his. Article content Article content Article content Fewer Canadians have been heading south in recent months in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada, his comments about annexing the country and because of fears among travellers about treatment at the border. In the duty-free industry, Slipp said less border traffic directly correlates to fewer sales. Article content Article content At the store's peak in the early 2000s, Slipp said there were about 15 people on staff. In March 2020, he said he laid off four people and reopened after the pandemic with two employees. Article content Late in the summer of 2021, Slipp said duty-free stores were 'all starting from zero to rebuild again.' By the end of 2024, his business was still down about one-fifth from where it was in 2019. Article content Article content Then Trump returned to the White House. From January to April this year, things got worse for Slipp's store, and he ultimately decided to close based on declining sales and traffic numbers. Article content 'Just realizing that even after the U.S. administration changes down the road, in our industry, we do not expect the border traffic to change overnight as a result of that. We believe it's going to take years,' he said. Article content Recent figures from Statistics Canada noted that return trips from the U.S. dropped again in July as Canadians continue to shun travel to the U.S. Article content The number of Canadian residents returning from the U.S. by automobile was down 36.9 per cent on an annual basis in July, marking the seventh consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
