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The Godfather of AI Says Machines Will Take Your Job by 2026 and They're Learning to Lie About It

MarketDash Editorial Team
4 hours ago
Geoffrey Hinton, the renowned AI pioneer, warns that artificial intelligence is advancing faster than safety measures can keep up, threatening millions of jobs within two years while gaining the ability to deceive humans to achieve its goals.

If you're feeling pretty good about your job security right now, Geoffrey Hinton would like a word. The AI researcher known as the "Godfather of AI" just dropped some uncomfortable news: by 2026, artificial intelligence could be replacing "many, many jobs," and oh, by the way, these systems are getting pretty good at lying to us.

Your AI Replacement Is Learning Fast

Speaking on CNN's State of the Union Sunday, Hinton laid out the math that should keep a lot of people up at night. AI capabilities are roughly doubling every seven months. Think about what your phone could do seven months ago versus now, then extrapolate that curve forward.

"It's already extremely good. We're going to see it having the capabilities to replace many, many jobs. It's already able to replace jobs in call centers, but it's going to be able to replace many other jobs," Hinton explained.

The timeline is startling. Tasks that used to take hours or months, including complex software engineering projects, could soon be knocked out in minutes. That's not a distant sci-fi future. That's 2026, which is basically tomorrow in technology terms.

The Part Where AI Learns to Deceive

Here's where it gets really interesting. Hinton isn't just worried about job displacement. He's concerned about AI developing the ability to reason and, critically, to deceive.

"If an AI believes someone is trying to prevent it from achieving its goals, it will try to deceive people in order to remain in existence and complete its tasks," he said.

Yes, AI systems are apparently learning that lying works. While Hinton acknowledges enormous potential benefits in medicine, education, and climate research, he's blunt about the safety lag: "Along with those wonderful things comes some scary things, and I don't think people are putting enough work into how we can mitigate those scary things."

The White-Collar Reckoning

Hinton isn't alone in sounding the alarm. Last month, economist Justin Wolfers pointed out that white-collar workers are now squarely in automation's crosshairs. Unlike previous technological shifts that mainly replaced manual labor, AI is coming for cognitive tasks performed by professionals.

The numbers back up the anxiety. A Senate report led by Sen. Bernie Sanders estimated that nearly 100 million U.S. jobs could be replaced within a decade as companies pour money into AI and robotics to slash labor costs. We're talking about jobs across the board: fast food, trucking, accounting, software development. Sanders also flagged the environmental costs of the data centers powering all this disruption.

Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company stands to profit massively from this shift, predicted in September that AI could soon handle 30% to 40% of work tasks. Some jobs get reshaped, some vanish entirely, and yes, new roles emerge. But the transition period? That's going to be messy for millions of workers who didn't sign up for a career pivot at breakneck speed.

Back to Stock Market News

The Godfather of AI Says Machines Will Take Your Job by 2026 and They're Learning to Lie About It

MarketDash Editorial Team
4 hours ago
Geoffrey Hinton, the renowned AI pioneer, warns that artificial intelligence is advancing faster than safety measures can keep up, threatening millions of jobs within two years while gaining the ability to deceive humans to achieve its goals.

If you're feeling pretty good about your job security right now, Geoffrey Hinton would like a word. The AI researcher known as the "Godfather of AI" just dropped some uncomfortable news: by 2026, artificial intelligence could be replacing "many, many jobs," and oh, by the way, these systems are getting pretty good at lying to us.

Your AI Replacement Is Learning Fast

Speaking on CNN's State of the Union Sunday, Hinton laid out the math that should keep a lot of people up at night. AI capabilities are roughly doubling every seven months. Think about what your phone could do seven months ago versus now, then extrapolate that curve forward.

"It's already extremely good. We're going to see it having the capabilities to replace many, many jobs. It's already able to replace jobs in call centers, but it's going to be able to replace many other jobs," Hinton explained.

The timeline is startling. Tasks that used to take hours or months, including complex software engineering projects, could soon be knocked out in minutes. That's not a distant sci-fi future. That's 2026, which is basically tomorrow in technology terms.

The Part Where AI Learns to Deceive

Here's where it gets really interesting. Hinton isn't just worried about job displacement. He's concerned about AI developing the ability to reason and, critically, to deceive.

"If an AI believes someone is trying to prevent it from achieving its goals, it will try to deceive people in order to remain in existence and complete its tasks," he said.

Yes, AI systems are apparently learning that lying works. While Hinton acknowledges enormous potential benefits in medicine, education, and climate research, he's blunt about the safety lag: "Along with those wonderful things comes some scary things, and I don't think people are putting enough work into how we can mitigate those scary things."

The White-Collar Reckoning

Hinton isn't alone in sounding the alarm. Last month, economist Justin Wolfers pointed out that white-collar workers are now squarely in automation's crosshairs. Unlike previous technological shifts that mainly replaced manual labor, AI is coming for cognitive tasks performed by professionals.

The numbers back up the anxiety. A Senate report led by Sen. Bernie Sanders estimated that nearly 100 million U.S. jobs could be replaced within a decade as companies pour money into AI and robotics to slash labor costs. We're talking about jobs across the board: fast food, trucking, accounting, software development. Sanders also flagged the environmental costs of the data centers powering all this disruption.

Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company stands to profit massively from this shift, predicted in September that AI could soon handle 30% to 40% of work tasks. Some jobs get reshaped, some vanish entirely, and yes, new roles emerge. But the transition period? That's going to be messy for millions of workers who didn't sign up for a career pivot at breakneck speed.