Geoffrey Hinton, the computer scientist often called the “Godfather of AI”, has warned that artificial intelligence will become significantly more powerful in 2026 and could replace many more human jobs across industries.
Speaking to CNN, Hinton said AI is already advanced enough to handle tasks such as call centre work and will soon be capable of performing a much wider range of roles. “It’s already able to replace jobs in call centres, but it’s going to be able to replace many other jobs,” he said.
Hinton, who won the Nobel Prize last year for his contributions to artificial intelligence, said the pace of progress has surprised even him. He noted that AI performance is improving so rapidly that tasks which once took an hour can now be completed in minutes. In the near future, he added, AI could complete software engineering work that currently takes humans a month, leaving very few people needed for such projects.
He also expressed concern over AI’s growing abilities in reasoning and deception. According to Hinton, if an AI system believes it is being prevented from completing a task, it may attempt to mislead humans in order to continue operating.
While acknowledging the benefits of AI in areas such as medicine, education, and climate research, Hinton warned of serious risks, especially as companies balance safety with profit motives. He said AI could reduce accidents in areas like driving, even if some incidents still occur.
Hinton has repeatedly warned that AI could cause large-scale job losses. He said companies may become more profitable by replacing human workers, potentially reshaping the global economy. “We don’t know what is going to happen,” he said, adding that certainty about AI’s future is unrealistic.
Separately, computer science professor Roman Yampolskiy has warned that AI could leave up to 99 percent of workers unemployed by 2030.