- Jeff Bezos says AI is a force for good, rather than a threat
- The technology will expand the human labour market, and create more demand
- Bezos’ comments go against the narrative of other prominent voices in AI
AI won’t shrink the labor market, but will expand it, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has declared, in his latest blast against technology doom-mongerers.
“I know there’s a lot of concern that many people have, including many smart people, that AI is going to make humans redundant and so on,” Bezos said at the VivaTech conference in Paris.
“I totally disagree with this point of view. And I think, in fact, AI is going to create a labour shortage.”
Flipping the script
Bezos’ opinion contradict many of the comments recently made by prominent figures in the AI space, trade unions, studies, tech job layoff trackers, and the fears of workers themselves.
Rather than replace jobs, the technology will present new opportunities for workers and create demand in new areas, he explained.
The comments were made as Bezos spoke of his latest venture, Prometheus, which seeks to use AI to assist human manufacturing as a counterbalance to industry which is seeing increased automation.
Bezos also took the opportunity to talk about his desire for humans to focus on space exploration, adding that it is “supply constrained, not demand constrained”.
First on the hitlist for interplanetary habitation is the Moon. “We’re going to the Moon to stay, not just to visit,” Bezos said, adding that establishing a permanent human base on the Moon would assist in further exploration.
Bezos’ space travel company Blue Origin was also a subject of discussion, after the company’s New Glenn rocket exploded during a ground test at Cape Canaveral in Florida in May. The incident resulted in no injuries, and Blue Origin chief executive Dave Limp added that the launch site will be repaired and ready to resume operation before the end of the year.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.
