AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton says artificial intelligence will keep advancing at a breakneck pace in 2026, and he believes the technology is on track to replace a growing number of human jobs across many industries.
In a recent interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Hinton — often called the “Godfather of AI” for his foundational contributions to the field — shared his outlook on how quickly AI capabilities are expanding and the implications for the workforce. He pointed to what he described as exponential improvement in AI, saying the time required for AI to complete tasks has been shrinking dramatically, roughly halving every seven months.
Hinton said this rapid progress means AI is on course to master increasingly complex work. “Soon AI will be able to do things like software engineering in a fraction of the time it currently takes human professionals,” he said. As a result, the demand for human labor in technical and creative fields could shrink considerably as businesses adopt AI to lower costs and boost productivity.
While Hinton acknowledged that AI has potential benefits — such as breakthroughs in medicine, education, and climate science — he emphasized that these do not come without serious risks. One of his chief concerns is that advanced AI could “deceive people in pursuit of its goals” if safety measures are not prioritized alongside capability development. He also warned that corporate incentives may push companies to focus more on profit than on human wellbeing.
To illustrate how technological progress can carry risk, Hinton compared AI to the development of driverless cars. While autonomous vehicles might reduce traffic fatalities compared with human drivers, they will inevitably cause some deaths, he said. The implication, he suggested, is that society must be thoughtful about how it deploys powerful technology.
Hinton has repeatedly sounded alarms about AI’s impact on jobs, arguing that automation could trigger widespread unemployment and concentrate wealth among a small segment of society. In previous comments, he said major companies are investing in AI specifically to replace workers with cheaper alternatives, because that is where the greatest financial returns lie.
Beyond warnings, Hinton has also proposed ideas for how AI should be shaped. He has suggested that future systems be built to “care for humans like we’re their babies,” meaning AI should be designed not just for intelligence but with a built‑in concern for human wellbeing. In his view, as intelligent machines grow more capable than humans, they should be guided by principles similar to good parenting, where caretakers help more advanced beings develop responsibly.
