The “godfather of AI” says AI will be coming for many jobs in 2026.
Geoffrey Hinton, the computer scientist known as “the godfather of AI,” said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” published Sunday that AI will have the “capabilities to replace many, many jobs” in 2026.
“We’re going to see AI get even better. It’s already extremely good,” Hinton said.
“It’s already able to replace jobs in call centers, but it’s going to be able to replace many other jobs,” he added.
Hinton said the advancements in AI are increasingly putting some white-collar jobs at risk.
“Each seven months or so, it gets to be able to do tasks that are about twice as long,” Hinton said, noting that AI has already moved from “a minute’s worth of coding” to “whole projects that are like an hour long.”
“In a few years’ time, it’ll be able to do software engineering projects that are months long, and then there’ll be very few people needed,” he added.
Hinton compared the AI shift to the industrial revolution, which rendered human physical strength far less relevant to most jobs. AI threatens to do something similar to human intelligence, he said.
Hinton also said that he’s “more worried” about AI as it has advanced faster than he expected, particularly in its ability to reason and deceive people.
“If it believes you’re trying to get rid of it, it will make plans to deceive you so you don’t get rid of it,” he added.
‘Jobless boom’ in 2026
Economists have predicted a “jobless boom” in 2026, as companies rely on AI to boost productivity without expanding payrolls.
KPMG’s chief economist Diane Swonk wrote last week that “growth and labor market outcomes have decoupled.”
Firms are doing more with fewer workers in the AI era, Swonk wrote. “Many overshot on staffing during the hiring frenzy and are now using attrition or layoffs to bring staffing levels more in line with demand.”
But AI could increase hiring in 2026, particularly for entry-level positions.
In an annual outlook survey released this month by advisory firm Teneo, 67% of the CEOs surveyed said they expect AI to boost entry-level hiring in 2026. Another 58% said they plan to add senior leadership roles.
The report said that companies are stepping up hiring in engineering and AI-focused positions, while many existing roles are getting redesigned as routine tasks become automated.
The survey, conducted between October 14 and November 10, polled more than 350 CEOs of public companies with at least $1 billion in annual revenue, along with about 400 institutional investors representing $19 trillion in portfolio value.
“It’s not that AI is wiping out the workforce today — it’s reshaping it,” said Ryan Cox, Teneo’s global head of AI.
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