Jon Stewart explains why AI will never benefit the common man: 'They come for our jobs'

The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is advancing rapidly. While some welcome this technological advancement, others are anxious, concerned about potential job losses to AI. In a recent episode of "The Daily Show," host Jon Stewart engaged with the ongoing debate about AI's future impact. Stewart explained, "We have been through technological advances before and they all have promised a utopian life without drudgery. But the reality is, they come for our jobs. So, I want your assurance that AI isn't removing the human from the loop."

Stewart expressed skepticism about the promises made by some CEOs that AI could easily help workers manage their jobs, address climate change, and even cure diseases. "Are you out of your mind? See, here's the thing. Toast, I can make. I can make toast. It might be the only technology we have that works pretty much every time. I'll tell you what: Why don't you get to work on curing the diseases and the climate change and we'll hold down the fort on toast," he exclaimed after showing footage of Mark Zuckerberg making a toast using AI.

The host continued about the latest technologies replacing human workers and took a dig at tech moguls by playing their clips on the show where they might have "let the real truth slip out" about AI. Stewart pointed out a few things in IBM CEO Arvind Krishna's clip, where he claimed that AI would help "get the same work done with fewer people." "That doesn't sound good. The same work is done with fewer people. Not a math guy, but I think fewer means less," Steward said while calling the promise of AI a "bait and switch."

He also referred to an NBC News interview with Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, who argued that "AI is not about removing the human from the loop. In fact, it's about empowering the human" with an "assistant." "And that's good for all of us!" Stewart quipped. "Although they do let the real truth slip out every now and again. So AI can cure diseases and solve climate change, but that's not exactly what companies are going to be using it for, are they?"

"So while we wait for this thing to cure diseases and solve climate change, it's replacing us in the workforce – not in the future, but now," he added, looking back at former president of the United States, George W. Bush's words on how "people should train for new jobs and embrace change." "That's the game," Steward added. "Whether it's globalization or industrialization or now artificial intelligence, the way of life that you are accustomed to is no match to the promise of more profit and new markets. Which sounds brutal if you're a human. AI is going to be ready to take over by Thursday. And once that happens, what the hell is there left for the rest of us to do?"

The video was reposted on Reddit by u/GrandmasGiantGaper and people on the internet had a lot of opinions about AI and its merits and demerits. u/AxelNotRose wrote, "Love how the ultra-wealthy executives are all like 'you'll have all this extra time on your hands.' Yeah, same with unemployment, but it's strange how pretty much everyone who's gotten laid off or fired has looked for new work instead of remaining unemployed. This is so tone-deaf and out of touch with actual reality." u/RahvinDragand quipped, "In an ideal world, AI would take all of our jobs, but we'd still be paid UBI so that we won't have to work and we can still live comfortably and do what we want."

u/Shapes_In_Clouds mentioned, "Thanks for calling out 'prompt engineer.' It is a little frightening seeing the CEOs use that phrase when they should know better. It's a made-up term by some power-tripping dweebs who felt important because they got to beta-test Dalle 2. The goal of every one of these companies is to minimize the amount of 'engineering' required in a prompt. There will simply be AI users." u/pwnies added, "AI will prioritize profits over impact to humanity at every turn. The crazy thing here is that the US Department of Commerce last month asked for comments about potentially banning open-weight AI models, which would effectively put control of these purely in the hands of for-profit companies. AI will be a major disruptor."