The founder of AI chatbot startup Replika said fears that AI will take away jobs are “legitimate” and could ultimately spark widespread backlash and protests.
Eugenia Kuida, CEO and founder of the AI-powered mini-app platform Wabi, said on a recent live episode of the podcast Platformer that she believes “we’re going to start seeing crazy protests around jobs and AI.”
“We’re going to live in this very optimistic city where it’s all about the future, future, future, but as soon as we get out of here, things get pretty scary,” Kuida told platformer founder Casey Newton. “People are really having a hard time finding work, and I think the situation could get much worse.”
Kuida pushed back on claims that AI will create new jobs in the same way as previous technological revolutions, saying that companies, including hers, are already cutting back on hiring for entry-level talent.
“Maybe technology needs to come up with a better story about what this is going to be, but I don’t believe in, ‘Oh, it’s just another technology and we’re going to get more, like radiologists still exist,'” Kuida said.
“But I don’t hire people for these junior positions anymore, and I don’t know who does,” the AI entrepreneur added.
Hiring less experienced people is “very expensive and just not sustainable for a startup,” she says.
“Frankly, that seems like really bad news,” Kuida said.
Kuida declined further comment when contacted by Business Insider.
Despite his concerns about AI’s impact on jobs, Kuida says he is optimistic about the potential for rapidly advancing technology to enable more people to create their own software and build products.
“I think the idea that we can all be creators is that we can tap into our creativity more, and we can build things that were previously limited by developers and designers and so on, and that’s great in a way,” she said.
Kuida also suggested that AI could open the door to entirely new operating systems, and claimed that this may be the first time the vulnerability has appeared in Apple’s iPhones.
“This is probably the first time in history that the iPhone is somewhat fragile,” she says. “Instead of serving businesses through apps they build, there may be a way to build better operating systems that serve us better.”