Sen. Bernie Sanders warned that the rapid rise of artificial intelligence poses profound risks for American workers and society, arguing that the billionaires driving the technology’s development are motivated by profit and power rather than public well-being.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the Vermont independent said Congress has failed to grapple with the economic and social upheaval AI could unleash, particularly for workers whose jobs may be eliminated.
Mr. Sanders also said younger generations are increasingly turning to AI for emotional support instead of human relationships, raising broader questions about the technology’s impact on humanity.
He noted that some experts believe AI could soon surpass human intelligence, making once‑far‑fetched scenarios more plausible.
“So the science fiction fear of AI running the world is not quite so outrageous a concept as some have thought it was,” Mr. Sanders said.
The rise of AI is fueling an intensifying debate over the pros and cons of the technology and over whether elected officials — many of them Baby Boomers — have responded with enough urgency.
Even skeptics believe that AI could strengthen health care and education and help develop new, more effective drugs to treat disease.
“Along with those wonderful things come some scary things, and I don’t think people are putting enough work into how we can mitigate those scary things,” Geoffrey Hinton, a British-Canadian computer scientist known as the “Godfather of AI,” said, also on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Mr. Hinton said some companies have been more responsible than others in striking a balance between AI safety and profitability. He said the government must do more to test chatbots now that they have been linked to suicide.
Mr. Sanders, meanwhile, singled out Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel as key figures investing heavily in AI, arguing their goal is to consolidate wealth and influence. Mr. Sanders cited comments from Mr. Musk predicting that AI and robotics could eliminate all jobs, and from Bill Gates suggesting that humans may not be needed for most tasks in the future.
“Well, I got a simple question: If there are no jobs and humans won’t be needed for most things, how do people get an income to feed their families, to get health care, or to pay the rent?” Mr. Sanders said. “There has not been one serious word of discussion in the Congress about that reality.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.