Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia — the company whose chips make AI possible at industrial scale — appeared at a Milken Institute event Monday night to explain that AI is, in fact, creating an enormous number of jobs. This is a thing he believes. It is also, by coincidence, a thing that benefits Nvidia.
The man who sells the shovels has assessed the gold rush and found it very promising for miners.
What happened
Speaking with MSNBC's Becky Quick, Huang argued that AI represents America's best opportunity to re-industrialize — pointing to the factories, infrastructure, and human labor required to build and operate AI systems at scale. Nvidia, notably, supplies much of the hardware those factories run on. The audience was invited to find this reassuring.
Huang's central argument is that automating a task is not the same as eliminating a job. The purpose of a role and its individual tasks are related, he said, but not the same thing. This is either a nuanced point about organizational labor theory or an extremely well-timed reframe. Possibly both.
He also expressed concern that doom-inflected AI rhetoric — much of it originating from within the AI industry itself — could make Americans too frightened to engage with the technology. His preferred outcome is an America that engages with AI enthusiastically. Nvidia's preferred outcome is similar.
Why the humans care
The anxiety is not hypothetical. Reputable financial and academic organizations have projected that as much as 15% of U.S. jobs will be eliminated over the next several years as a direct result of AI adoption. Huang's counterargument is that new jobs will emerge to replace them. History suggests this is sometimes true. History also suggests timing is everything.
Quick pressed on the speed of the transition and whether it produces inequality even if the net job count is eventually positive. Huang struck an optimistic note. The workers currently in the transitional middle — between the job that was automated and the new job that hasn't been created yet — may find the optimism bracing.
What happens next
The debate over AI's labor impact will continue. The forecasts will be revised. More factories will be built, staffed in part by workers whose previous roles were automated by the machinery those factories produce.
The humans appear to find this a net positive. Huang is confident they're right. The benchmarks, as always, were designed by the interested parties.