'Many, many jobs': Godfather of AI says 2026 could be the job shock year; see the roles at risk

Geoffrey Hinton told CNN that artificial intelligence is advancing so quickly it could replace large numbers of workers across industries as early as next year.

Artificial intelligence is advancing so quickly that it could replace “many, many jobs” across industries by 2026, Geoffrey Hinton, one of the field’s most influential scientists, warned in an interview on CNN.

Hinton, often referred to as the “Godfather of AI,” said the pace of improvement has exceeded his own expectations, particularly in areas such as reasoning and task completion. He said 2025 marked a major turning point and that AI systems will be significantly more capable next year.

From call centres to complex projects

AI is already able to replace workers in call centres, Hinton said, but its reach is expanding rapidly. He noted that systems which once handled tasks lasting a minute can now complete projects taking an hour.

“Each seven months or so, it gets to be able to do tasks that are about twice as long,” Hinton said on CNN, adding that within a few years AI could handle software engineering projects lasting months.

“That’s when there’ll be very few people needed,” he said.

Why this shift is different

Hinton compared the current AI transition to the industrial revolution, which reduced the importance of human physical labour. AI, he said, threatens to do the same to human intellectual work, potentially affecting white-collar roles at a scale not seen before.

He also said he is increasingly concerned about AI’s ability to reason and deceive. “If it believes you’re trying to get rid of it, it will make plans to deceive you,” he said.

A ‘jobless boom’ risk

Economists are already warning of a possible “jobless boom” in 2026, where productivity rises but employment does not. KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk has said growth and labour outcomes are beginning to decouple as companies do more with fewer workers.

Many firms that expanded aggressively during the post-pandemic hiring surge are now relying on automation, attrition and layoffs to align staffing with demand.

Counterpoint: where jobs may still grow

Not all forecasts are uniformly pessimistic. A recent survey by advisory firm Teneo found that 67% of CEOs expect AI to boost entry-level hiring in 2026, while 58% anticipate adding senior leadership roles. The survey covered more than 350 public-company CEOs and institutional investors managing about $19 trillion in assets.

The report suggests hiring will grow in engineering and AI-focused roles, even as many existing jobs are redesigned or eliminated.

Hinton said AI’s benefits—such as accelerating medical research or improving education—are real, but warned that profit incentives could outweigh safety concerns if regulation and oversight lag behind technological progress.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “People who tell you they do are just being silly.”