AI could eliminate white-collar jobs in 5 years: Anthropic CEO
What's the story
Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could eliminate white-collar jobs much sooner than we think. In a recent interview with BBC Radical's Amol Rajan, he predicted that repetitive yet variable tasks in sectors like law, consulting, finance, and administration could be automated in as little as one to five years.
Job automation
AI's role in legal document review
Amodei highlighted that jobs such as those of first-year associates in law firms involve a lot of document review, which is repetitive, but every case is different. He said, "That's something that AI is quite good at." The Anthropic CEO also noted that many business leaders see AI not as a tool to augment employees but as a means to cut costs by employing fewer people.
Job displacement
Rising unemployment due to AI
Amodei stressed that AI is already very good at entry-level work and is getting better quickly. His confidence comes from private conversations with CEOs who are already deploying AI systems and are open about their plans to reduce headcount. In May, he told Axios that AI could eliminate half of entry-level office roles in five years, potentially pushing unemployment rates up to between 10% and 20%.
Software automation
Amodei's software code prediction sparks debate
Amodei also thinks that AI can write 90% of software code in three to six months and "essentially all" of it in a year. He predicted human engineers would be reduced to shaping high-level design parameters while AI handles the details. His views have sparked a debate among tech leaders, with some like NVIDIA's Jensen Huang predicting AI will reshape roles rather than erase them completely.
Job evolution
Divided opinions on AI's job impact
The debate over AI's impact on the workplace continues, with some industry leaders like Microsoft's Aparna Chennapragada stressing coding is more important than ever. Others, however, have been more inclined to Amodei's outlook. Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, has predicted that AI could replace "literally half" of US white-collar workers. This divide highlights the uncertainty surrounding how quickly and extensively AI will transform work.