Redazione RHC : 7 August 2025 14:35
A former Google executive is sounding the alarm: artificial intelligence is poised to displace workers and drag us toward a dystopia. Mo Gawdat, a former Google executive, is sounding the alarm: artificial intelligence will not only impact entry-level jobs. It threatens all levels of intellectual labor, from developers to CEOs. He predicts a near future characterized by profound social and economic upheaval, driven by massive automation.
Mo Gawdat doesn’t just highlight the risks of AI for technical or repetitive jobs. In an interview on the podcast Diary of a CEO, he argues that even the most skilled professions, often considered safe, will be wiped out. Developers, podcasters, and even CEOs are on the list. “AI will become better than humans at everything. Even at the CEO role,” he warns.
The former Google X sales director draws on his entrepreneurial experience. His current startup, Emma.love, develops artificial intelligence focused on emotional relationships. It is run by three people. “Before, this project would have required 350 developers,” he emphasizes. A concrete example of how quickly production capacity can be concentrated in the hands of a very few individuals, enhanced by automation.
Furthermore, Mo Gawdat describes our era as a transitional phase: an “age of augmented intelligence” in which humans still retain a role. But, according to him, this will not last. This period is already giving way to a phase he calls “machine mastery,” in which AI will occupy entire roles, from assistants to architects. There would no longer be any complementarity between humans and machines, but a pure and simple substitution. Far from being a technophobe, the former Google executive says he wants to build an artificial intelligence aligned with human values. He advocates for systems that promote love, freedom, and connection between individuals. However, he observes a worrying gap between this ethical ambition and the reality of its uses. According to him, AI is currently employed by actors driven primarily by profitability and ego. This imbalance makes the dystopian scenario not only possible, but probable.
He places the turning point around 2027. This moment would mark the emergence of mass unemployment, increased social tensions, and the disintegration of the middle classes.“Unless you’re in the richest 0.1%, you’re a peasant,” he states. The current economic model would not survive widespread automation without a profound transformation of its redistributive mechanisms.
It even goes beyond the climate crisis. In a previous episode of the same podcast, he called AI a more serious emergency than climate change, calling for a 98% tax on companies that rely heavily on AI to fund safety nets. He then mentioned the “higher” probability of a disruptive global event caused by AI than global warming.
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