Putin says AI replacing human jobs is inevitable: ‘Entire professions may go extinct’

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued stark warning regarding formidable and “irreversible” impacts of artificial intelligence on labour markets.

At the Eurasian Economic Forum in Astana, Kazakhstan, on May 28, Putin told EAEU heads of state that AI models will soon “inevitably” displace millions from roles in data analysis, software development, and automation.

Speaking at the conference, the Russian President warned about how the labour market is being reformed due to the advent of artificial intelligence. Consequently, millions of people will be compelled either to lose their jobs or to change their area of employment.

“Entire professions might go extinct due to the fact that humans will be replaced by artificial intelligence. Such processes are irreversible and inevitable."

Talking about the areas which are already being replaced, Putin said, the occupations related to software, data analysis and writing codes are under threat due to replacement of junior specialists belonging to these fields at the hands of technology and “in near future, middle personnel is also poised to be replaced.”

"Progress does not stand still. We need to be prepared for the coming changes, and even better, use them as a driver of accelerated economic growth."

The remarks of Putin come after the tech moguls dismissed the fears regarding AI-driven job apocalypse.

Speaking at a Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) conference in Sydney on Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dismissed fears regarding “global job apocalypse" fuelled by cutting-edge AI models.

According to Altman, the extent to which the world had claimed about technology taking over human jobs is nothing but fearmongering. The technology had not claimed as many white-collar jobs as he had feared.

"I don't think we're going to have the kind ​of jobs apocalypse that some of the companies in our space advocate or talk about."

Similarly, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also criticized the tech bosses for creating panic among people related to AI-driven job losses.

Huang said, “It was just a way for them to sound smart, and I really hate that…I think we're scaring people, and that's irresponsible.”