Automation may trigger WW-III, warns Alibaba boss

Hyderabad: Warning the policy makers about the threat of automation, Alibaba founder Jack Ma said advanced technologies, which seek to replace humans at workplaces, can trigger a Third World War.

Referring to jobs that could could no longer exist for humans with the advent of these technologies, the Chinese billionaire told CNBC that  “the rich and poor — the workers and the bosses — will be increasingly defined by data and automation unless governments show more willingness to make hard choices.”

“World leaders have a duty to educate people to prevent the pain caused by a rapid rise in automation and artificial intelligence,” he added.

A study by Oxford University suggested that 100 professions or occupations are at risk of being eliminated by automation in the future. All jobs that don’t require exceptional thought processes and those that could be accomplished by analysing data with a simple algorithm could be replaced.

Alluding the breaking out of world wars to disruption of the global order due to technology, Mr Ma said: “The first technology revolution caused World War 1. The second technology revolution caused World War 2. This is the third technology revolution.”

With machine learning and artificial intelligence eliminating jobs,  he said “the third technology revolution may cause the Third World War.”

While claiming that the artificial intelligence would allow people to work less and travel more, the teacher-turned-billionaire said that he does not like the idea of machines replacing humans. “We should make sure the machine can do things that human beings cannot do,” Ma said.