Kai-Fu Lee: AI will displace 50% of all jobs by 2027

The chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures predicted in 2017 that artificial intelligence would surpass all of humanity’s previous technological revolutions combined, including electricity and the Internet, adding that AI is much more powerful than humans.

“These are things that are superhuman, and we believe that this will happen in every industry, will probably replace 50% of human jobs, will bring enormous wealth to humanity and will eliminate poverty,” Lee told CNBC and later predicted that this might occur in the following 10 years.

Seven years later, in March last 12 months, the Fortune Innovation Forum was held in Hong Kong. as he sat down with Assets Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell.

With the timeline of his prediction only three years away, she asked him if it still holds, and he replied, “It’s actually incredibly accurate. People criticized me for being too aggressive in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and I was a little nervous at the time. But when the new generation AI came out, I think everyone jumped on the bandwagon and believes this is the right pace.”

Artificial intelligence is more likely to cause white-collar jobs to vanish faster than blue-collar jobs, Lee added, describing it as a really significant issue that some countries have now recognized must be addressed.

When asked what parents should tell their children about their skilled future, he replied that the very first thing people should do is “stop this nonsense about kids using ChatGPT to cheat.”

The chatbot, which might provide natural language answers to questions on a spread of topics, is one other tool, identical to Microsoft Word or Abode Photoshop, he argued.

As children grow up, enter the workforce and are judged on their performance, bosses take a look at the top results of their work, not whether or not they used ChatGPT or Google Search, Lee continued.

“We need to encourage people to use AI and use all the tools to help them do their best,” he said. “It’s also a great guide to what they can aim for and what is not worthwhile.”

Lee is certain that there’s something unique about our humanity. He says that humans have a soul, while machines won’t ever have one. “We have compassion and empathy. We have feelings and the ability to love. We have the ability to connect with other people and to create and gain trust.”

In fact, more essential than any technical or business skills is gaining other people’s trust. This is achieved through authenticity, teamwork, sharing and a high emotional quotient, he explained.

“Do I think AI can fake it? Yes. Do I think people will accept fake AI for at least the next 50 years? No. So that’s long enough for your kids to survive and figure out the next step for their kids,” Lee said.