Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer of Google X, has a harsh message for white-collar experts. Artificial intelligence doesn't just come for entry-level work. From software developers to podcasters, it's here for everyone.
In a conversation Monday about the CEO's Diary podcast, Gawdat predicted that most knowledge workers will be exchanged over the next decade, and that many people underestimate how quickly this transformation will unfold.
He cited Emma.Love, his own startup run by just three people, building an emotional and relationship-focused artificial intelligence.
“The startup would have been 350 developers in the past,” he said.
“The truth is, the podcasters will be replaced,” he told host Stephen Bartlett.
Even elite experts should not feel immune. “AGI will be better with everything, including being a CEO than a human,” he said. “One What they don't think about is that AI will replace them too. ”
Gawdat, who previously worked at Google X, the research arm of a technology company, described the present moment as an “age of extended intelligence,” a short transitional phase where humans can work with AI.
However, it quickly gives way to “machine mastery.” Here, the AI system performs the overall role, from assistants to architects.
The former Google X executive said he is not anti-AI. He said he is actively working to build an ethical system that reflects human values like love and connection.
However, he warned that AI is being deployed by people and institutions driven not by ethics but by profit and ego.
“Unless you're in the top 0.1%, you're a farmer,” Gaudat said. “There's no middle class.”
He predicted “short-term dystopia” that began around 2027, driven by massive unemployment, social unrest and an economic structure that failed to adapt.
Still, he said there is a better future, full of freedom, creativity, and human connection, and there is a possibility.
“We couldn't wake up every morning and we couldn't occupy a 20-hour day at work,” he said. “We defined our purpose as work. That's a capitalist lie.”
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“But the truth is, it could be the best world ever,” he said. “Society is completely filled with laughter and joy. Free health care, no work, and you can spend more time with your loved ones. A world where we are all equal.”
On a 2023 episode of the same podcast, Gawdat went further. AI “beyond emergency,” he said.
“That's the biggest thing we need to do today. It's bigger than climate change, believe it or not.”
At the time, he called on the government to tax 98% on AI-powered companies, slowing down industry demand and funding the support system needed for people refugeing.
“The chances of something very destructive within the next two years that could affect the entire planet are definitely greater for AI than for climate change,” Gaudat said.
Microsoft, Nvidia and Meta push back the predictions of end-of-life AI
Not everyone shares AI's Gawdat apocalyptic predictions.
A July study by Microsoft researchers found that AI chatbots can help support tasks that include research, writing and communication, rather than replacing an entire job.
Other experts remain divided. Jeffrey Hinton, the so-called “AI Godfather,” reflects Gowdat's concerns, warning that AI will “replace “the ordinary intellectual labor” with everyone.”
Humanity CEO Dario Amody predicted that half of the entry-level white-collar jobs could disappear within five years.
However, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang disagreed. He believes AI thinks how work is done and changes rather than eliminating it. We call AI “advanced cognitive skills” and AI “the greatest technology equalizer.”
Meta's chief AI scientist Yann Lecun also rejected Doomsday's predictions, saying he “looks little to agree with everything Dario says”, thinking that humans will remain “bosses” of future AI systems.
