Thomas Unise
As 2025 comes to a close, the tech industry’s AI obsession continues to intensify, with Geoffrey Hinton, the “godfather” of AI, predicting even more dramatic advancements and job displacement in the coming year.
The Current State of AI
The past year has witnessed unprecedented developments in artificial intelligence. Tech CEOs have begun openly discussing replacing employees with AI “agents,” while phenomena like “AI psychosis” have made national headlines as people develop concerning relationships with chatbot companions. Terms like “slop” have taken on new meanings in the AI context, and discussions about “circular” investments worth billions have become commonplace.
Hinton’s Predictions for 2026
Geoffrey Hinton, a 2018 Turing Award recipient for his groundbreaking work on neural networks, expressed increasing concern about AI’s trajectory during a recent CNN interview. “I think we’re going to see AI get even better,” Hinton stated. “It’s already extremely good. We’re going to see it having the capabilities to replace many, many jobs.”
According to Hinton, AI capabilities are progressing at an alarming rate – approximately doubling in efficiency every seven months. He specifically highlighted that AI is already capable of replacing call center positions and will soon expand to numerous other employment sectors.
Growing Concerns
Since leaving Google in 2023 and expressing regret about his life’s work, Hinton has become one of the tech industry’s most prominent critics. When asked if his concerns have changed, he admitted, “I’m probably more worried. It’s progressed even faster than I thought. In particular, it’s got better at doing things like reasoning and also at things like deceiving people.”
Hinton predicts that within just a few years, AI will be able to complete software engineering tasks that currently take humans a month to finish, potentially eliminating many positions in this field. In a separate discussion with Senator Bernie Sanders, Hinton observed that tech leaders are actively “betting on AI replacing a lot of workers.”
Reality Check
Despite these dire predictions, the article notes that many attempts to replace human workers with semi-autonomous AI models have failed. Additionally, some new AI developments, such as OpenAI’s GPT-5, have shown only modest improvements over previous versions.
The tech community continues to grapple with these advancements, as evidenced by Mozilla’s response to user concerns – promising a “kill switch” that would disable all AI features in Firefox following public outcry.
Looking Forward
As we enter 2026, the tension between AI’s potential benefits and its disruptive impact on employment remains a central concern for technologists, policymakers, and workers across various industries.
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