Bernie Sanders Warns AI Could Cause 20-30% Unemployment, Cites Existential Risks

Bernie Sanders Senator Bernie Sanders has now raised an alarm on the risks posed by artificial intelligence, amplifying a stark warning from Verizon CEO Dan Schulman about the potential for mass unemployment. In a post shared on social media platform X (formerly knows as Twitter) Sanders wrote that Schulman's January comments predicting 20% to 30% unemployment within two to five years due to advances in AI and robotics should not be ignored. "When the CEO of Verizon predicts AI & robotics could lead to 20%-30% unemployment within the next few years, we may want to take notice," Sanders said, adding that AI is "the most transformative technology in human history" and warning, "We're not prepared for it economically or socially. That must change. NOW." Along with this, Schulman also cautioned that even jobs traditionally considered to be secure, including manual labour roles, could face disruption as humanoid robotics and AI systems advance. Corporate America share contradicting views on impact of AI The warning from Sanders comes amid a broader debate in the tech and business community. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently argued that technological innovation historically creates more jobs than it destroys, while investor Vinod Khosla has forecasted that AI could wipe out a large share of jobs by 2030. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has urged policymakers to prepare for workforce shifts, and a Goldman Sachs report earlier this month found that workers displaced by technological change often suffer long-term financial setbacks. Bernie Sanders warn everyone on AI Recently, Sanders quoted world's 'biggest' AI scientists to warn everyone on AI, says: We must make sure that AI... Bernie Sanders posted a lengthy statement on X recently, citing some of the most prominent voices in AI research to argue that the technology poses risks far beyond job losses or privacy concerns. At the center of his warning: the possibility that AI could one day surpass human intelligence and operate entirely beyond human control. Sanders quoted Yoshua Bengio—widely regarded as the most-cited living scientist in the world—who has said the AI race amounts to "playing with fire" and that researchers still don't know how to ensure the machines won't turn against us. He also cited Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning "godfather of AI," who has put the odds of AI wiping out humanity somewhere between 10 and 20 percent.