Many of the world's most influential individuals are weighing up the potential impact that AI could have (and in some cases already has had) on people's employment situations, and US Senator Bernie Sanders has now offered his own eerie prediction for the future in relation to this issue.
While it has only been a few years since ChatGPT burst onto the scene, it quickly became abundantly clear the seismic impact that it could have on the world, alongside similar AI models.
Many jobs have already been placed on the chopping block as a consequence of LLM developments, and it continues to threaten roles that would otherwise have been seen as 'safe', with decades worth of experience replicated by AI in a matter of seconds.
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Experts have outlined quite how many jobs will succumb to the falling sword of artificial intelligence, and Bill Gates has indicated that just three jobs will survive in the near future.
Speaking to Joe Rogan on a new episode of his podcast, Senator Bernie Sanders offers his own perspective on the dangers that global employment faces in the wake of AI, especially when it comes to tackling it from a political perspective.
What has Bernie Sanders said about AI and jobs?
Sanders and Rogan heavily discussed artificial intelligence throughout the podcast, as reported by PC Gamer, highlighting issues of control and use in schools, but one particular moment stood out at as eerie warning for the future.
"What I worry about right now is I think artificial intelligence is going to displace millions and millions of workers," Sanders outlined. "People are going to be thrown out on the streets. I think the corporate guys who are running these companies couldn't care less about these workers. I think robotics is going to be running a lot of the factories in America. And I think these are issues we just have got to address in a bold way."
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This offers a similar perspective to what podcaster Steven Bartlett outlined recently, as he revealed that one of the biggest names in the AI world 'doesn't give a f***' about the harm that AI will have on the world, and claims that they're 'lying to the public' about safety measures and regulation.
While Elon Musk has pointed towards the possibility of a 'universal high income' scheme where everyone would be given lots of money as a baseline by the government as a consequence of AI taking over jobs, that is largely seen as an overly optimistic and utopian perspective that doesn't line up with the current actions of major CEOs.
All signs point towards large parts of the American workforce losing their jobs thanks to AI taking over, and with no other employment to turn to and profits hoovered up by corporations in charge of artificial intelligence and robotics, it's hard to picture a positive future.
Geoffrey Hinton, known by many as the 'Godfather of AI', has heavily warned that AI will dramatically widen the wealth gap between the richest and poorest, and that could have devastating ramifications for the future of the world.
What does Sanders suggest to tackle this crisis?
Rogan asks Sanders what he would do in response to this devastation of the job market, hypothesizing the benefits that a company like Ford would receive if automated robots took over the workplace, to which the Vermont Senator responded:
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"I mean, that's the right question. Nobody has a simple answer. Does corporate America have the right to say to workers throughout this country, 'Hey, sorry guys we don't need you anymore, have a nice life you're out on the streets'?
"I don't have a magical solution, I wish I did, I don't [...] I'm sorry Mr. [General Motors], I'm sorry Mr. Ford, because this country is more than just your profits. We are human beings, and you're not going to throw people out on the street, many of whom will have a hard time getting healthcare."
There isn't necessarily a right or defined answer at the moment and that is part of the issue, but it's clear from Sanders that the government needs to do something to protect the American people from what seems inevitable at this point, and put their lives forward as a priority over the profits of companies.