In the latest episode of “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart humorously criticized prominent figures in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry including Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella, for their grandiose promises about the potential of AI.
What Happened: In the video posted on Tuesday, the renowned comedian and talk-show host played clips of aforementioned industry leaders touting AI’s potential to revolutionize life, solve climate change, and cure diseases.
In the first clip of Marc Andreessen, general partner of Andreessen Horowitz saying, “This has the potential to make life much better… I think it’s honestly a layup.”
There was another clip showing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman saying, “I hate to sound like a utopic tech bro here, but the increase in quality of life that AI can deliver is extraordinary.”
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One more clip showed Google CEO Sundar Pichai saying, “AI is the most profound technology humanity is working on, more profound than fire or electricity.”
He then humorously pointed out that despite these grand promises, the current use of AI is far from these lofty goals, showing a clip featuring Meta Platforms Inc. CEO asking Jarvis, Zuckerberg's first house AI, to make toast.
Stewart then mockingly said, “Here’s the thing, toast I can make," adding "I’ll tell you what, why don’t you get to work on curing the diseases and the climate change and we’ll hold down the fort on toast."
He then said, in a more serious tone, albeit with a comedy undercurrent, "As a society,, we have been through technological advances before, and they all have promised a utopian life without drudgery. The reality is they come for our jobs, so I want your assurance that AI isn’t removing the human from the loop.”
The talk-show host also highlighted the potential impact of AI on the workforce, playing a clip of Mustafa Suleyman, one of the founders of DeepMind and now the CEO of Microsoft AI, stating that AI is already replacing human labor. “left completely to the market and to their own devices these are fundamentally labor replacing tools.”
Stewart concluded by saying that “this whole AI thing is a bait and switch,” suggesting that AI is not living up to its promises and is instead replacing human workers.
Why It Matters: The episode’s content reflects a growing concern about the impact of AI on the workforce.
Last month, a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research or IPPR warned that the U.K. could lose up to eight million jobs due to the increasing integration of AI in the workplace. The think tank, however, suggested that a “jobs apocalypse” is not inevitable if the government takes appropriate action.
Influential figures have also discussed this issue. Previously, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk predicted that AI could render all jobs obsolete.
Earlier, Zuckerberg also discussed this concern, suggesting that the advancement of AI might affect the employment prospects of white-collar workers. However, he also highlighted the potential for AI to generate fresh opportunities and employment.
In January, a study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT indicated that the pace of transition from human workers to AI could be slower than initially anticipated. The researchers discovered that it remains economically unviable for companies to substitute employees with AI systems.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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