AI could replace 99% of workers in five years, warns AI researcher

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The emergence of artificial intelligence could lead to devastating, never-before-seen levels of unemployment within the next five years. That’s the warning coming from one of the leading artificial intelligence researchers and safety experts.

Speaking to The Diary of a CEO podcast, Roman Yampolskiy, a University of Louisville computer science professor, cautions that AI could “trigger an unemployment crisis unlike anything in history.” Yampolskiy, who coined the term “AI safety” and has advocated “boxing” AI to limit its potential, told BI we could be just two years away from artificial general intelligence, also known as human-level intelligence AI.

“It makes no sense to hire humans for most jobs, if I can just get a $20 subscription or a free model to do what an employee does. First, anything on a computer will be automated. And next, I think humanoid robots are maybe 5 years behind. So, in five years, all the physical labor can also be automated.”

By 2030, he predicts the entire labor market could collapse.

“We’re looking at a world where we have levels of unemployment we’ve never seen before,” Yampolskiy told the podcast. “Not talking about 10% unemployment, which is scary, but 99%.”

“All you have left is jobs for whatever reason, you prefer another human would do it for you,” he added. “But anything else can be fully automated.”

However, Yampolskiy clarified his point by saying that, “It doesn’t mean it will be automated in practice. A lot of times, technology exists, but it’s not deployed.”

“We may have a lot more time with jobs and with world that looks like this. But capability to replace most humans with most occupations may come very quickly,” he cautioned.

San Francisco, home to leading AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, was declared the “AI capitol of the world” by former Mayor London Breed. Current Mayor Daniel Lurie has continued efforts to stake the City by the Bay’s claim as “the global leader in artificial intelligence.”