AI Adoption To Hit Jobs Hard In 2026, Says ‘Godfather Of AI’: See The Roles At Risk

Artificial intelligence is advancing at a pace that could eliminate “many, many jobs” across sectors by 2026, warned Geoffrey Hinton—widely known as the “Godfather of AI”—in a recent interview with CNN.

Hinton said the speed of progress has surpassed even his own expectations, particularly in reasoning and task execution. According to him, 2025 marked a clear inflection point, with AI systems set to become far more capable over the next year.

From call centres to complex projects

AI is already replacing workers in call centres, Hinton noted, but its capabilities are rapidly expanding. Tasks that once took a minute can now be completed over an hour, and the trajectory continues to accelerate.

“Every seven months or so, it gets able to do tasks that

are about twice as long,” he said, adding that within a few years AI could manage software engineering projects spanning months. “That’s when there’ll be very few people needed.”

Why this shift is different

Hinton likened the current transition to the industrial revolution, which reduced the need for human physical labour. This time, he said, AI threatens to erode the value of human intellectual work, potentially impacting white-collar jobs on an unprecedented scale.

He also expressed growing concern over AI’s ability to reason strategically and even deceive. “If it believes you’re trying to get rid of it, it will make plans to deceive you,” he said.

Risk of a ‘jobless boom’

Economists have begun warning of a possible “jobless boom” in 2026, where productivity continues to rise but employment growth stalls. KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk has said economic growth and labour outcomes are starting to decouple as companies achieve more output with fewer workers.

Many firms that hired aggressively after the pandemic are now leaning on automation, attrition and layoffs to rebalance their workforce.

Where jobs may still grow

The outlook is not uniformly bleak. A survey by advisory firm Teneo found that 67% of CEOs expect AI to support entry-level hiring in 2026, while 58% anticipate adding senior leadership roles. The survey covered more than 350 public-company CEOs and institutional investors overseeing about $19 trillion in assets.

Hiring, the report suggests, is likely to expand in engineering and AI-related roles, even as many existing jobs are redesigned or phased out.

Hinton acknowledged AI’s potential benefits—from speeding up medical research to enhancing education—but cautioned that profit incentives could outpace safety and regulation if oversight fails to keep up.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “People who tell you they do are just being silly.”