CEO of Airbnb Brian Chesky they are not afraid that artificial intelligence will displace jobs. In fact, he thinks he’ll create more of them—especially in the business world.
Since ChatGPT started gaining traction last winter, the tech icon from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to a billionaire businessman Mark Cuban admitted that they fear AI will replace human workers in almost every industry.
But they’re forgetting something, Chesky he recently said “This Week in Startups” podcast: We don’t even know what kinds of jobs this will create.
“It’s easier to imagine what jobs would be displaced than what jobs would be created,” Chesky said. “That [would] they require us to imagine what does not exist.”
AI is already making Airbnb’s software engineers more efficient, Chesky said, with 30% of daily tasks potentially handled by ChatGPT-like tools within the next six months. That doesn’t mean those engineers’ jobs are necessarily in jeopardy, he said, arguing that the time saved could allow them to focus on harder, more personalized projects.
Computer scientists aren’t the only potential beneficiaries, he said. As AI develops, you’ll be able to tell chatbots in plain English what you want on the web and the technology will create it for you, no coding languages needed, the Airbnb CEO said.
“I think it’s going to create millions of startups … business will benefit,” Chesky said. “Everybody can basically do the equivalent of what software engineering allowed you to do just five years ago.”
Chesky is not alone in thinking this way. AI is already helping people make more money in less time, RSE Ventures CEO Matt Higgins said wrote for CNBC Make It last week. “AI can be a great money-making tool, and it’s definitely on par with selling flowers on street corners,” he wrote.
This is not the first time that people have worried about technology replacing human beings. The rise of computers and the Internet has certainly eliminated jobs such as typists and telephone operators. It facilitated other roles and created new opportunities such as website designers and content creators.
But expanding artificial intelligence could still be a double-edged sword, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk told CNBC’s David Faber last month. For example, it may be hard to find your job fulfilling “if an AI can do your job better than you.”
Part of the problem is that AI is moving too fast for anyone to accurately predict what its future might look like. If companies don’t adapt at a similar pace, they risk being left behind, Chesky said.
“I’m interested in how fast it goes, and is the company ready for that speed,” he said. “But I think from a creative standpoint … you only have to worry if you don’t want to be a part of it, because this is a creative tool for you. Computers are tools.”
Disclosure: CNBC owns exclusive off-network cable rights to “Shark Tank,” featuring Mark Cuban as a panelist.
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