AI will wipe out millions of jobs, says Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah
Follow UsChristopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, has warned that AI development should not be controlled only by technology companies.
Olah said that AI could replace human labour 'at a very large scale.'
He said, 'Every frontier AI lab operates inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing.'
As AI continues to grow rapidly, concerns about its impact on society are also becoming stronger. Now, Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, has warned that AI development should not be controlled only by technology companies. He believes governments, civil society groups, and even religious leaders should also play a role in guiding the future of AI. In the first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV, Olah said that AI could replace human labour ‘at a very large scale.’ He further said, ‘If that happens, supporting those displaced will be a moral imperative of historic proportions.’
SurveyOlah also admitted that AI companies often work under heavy pressure from competition, politics and business goals. According to him, these pressures can sometimes clash with what is best for society.
He said, ‘Every frontier AI lab operates inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing.’ Olah further explained that even researchers with good intentions are influenced by these pressures.
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Apart from job losses, Olah also spoke about the strange and sometimes unsettling behaviour shown by AI models. He claimed that researchers are discovering patterns within AI systems that resemble the way the human brain works.
He said, ‘We find structures that mirror results from human neuroscience. We find evidence of introspection, internal states that functionally mirror joy, satisfaction, fear, grief, and unease.’
He also believes outside experts and critics are needed to challenge AI firms and help guide the technology in a safer direction.
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Olah highlighted three major concerns that need urgent attention: large-scale job losses, fair distribution of AI benefits across the world, and understanding how increasingly complex AI systems actually work.
Olah also raised concerns about AI development being concentrated in a few wealthy countries. He questioned how the benefits of AI could be shared globally instead of remaining limited to powerful nations and companies.
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