A former chief business officer at Google believes that AI will not create jobs and may, instead, even replace top executives. Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Mo Gawdat dismissed the popular notion that AI will generate employment as “100% crap.” He cited his own startup, Emma.love, as proof. Built by just three developers using AI, the app would have previously required a team of 350, he said.
Gawdat, who spent nearly five years at Google X tackling global challenges like climate change and energy access, said no role is safe — not even those traditionally seen as human-dependent. “Video editors, podcasters, executives — all will be replaced,” CNBC Make It quoted him as saying. He added that even doctors and teachers, as predicted by Bill Gates, are at risk.
‘Better than humans at everything’
Gawdat, author of Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World, said artificial general intelligence will eventually outperform humans in every domain, including leadership. “There will be a time where most incompetent CEOs will be replaced,” he said.
While top performers may survive longer, Gawdat warned that even they won’t be safe forever. The economic disruption, however, could force a rethinking of work itself.
He argued that the job-centric model of life is flawed. “We were never made to wake up every morning and just occupy 20 hours of our day with work,” he said. “We defined our purpose as work. That’s a capitalist lie.”
On a positive note, the former Google executive pointed out the AI-driven shift could offer people more time for family, hobbies, philanthropy, and rediscovering identity beyond job titles — if society is willing to embrace the change.
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