AI could replace human jobs in 10-20 years, warns DeepSeek researcher

Victor Chen Deli, a senior researcher from Chinese AI firm DeepSeek, has recently expressed pessimism about artificial intelligence's long-term effect on employment and society. He made the remarks during a rare public appearance at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, China.

Chen stated that while AI would benefit humanity in the short term, he anticipates significant job losses within 5-10 years as the technology becomes capable of performing more human tasks. "In the next 10-20 years, AI could take over the rest of work and society could face a massive challenge," he said, adding that technology companies would need to act as "defenders" against these impacts.

According to a report by Reuters, this appearance marked DeepSeek's first major public engagement since the company gained global attention in January by releasing a low-cost AI model that performed competitively with leading US systems. The Chinese government has since positioned DeepSeek as an example of the country's technological advancement amid ongoing competition with the United States.

DeepSeek has continued developing its technology, releasing an upgraded model in September and optimising its systems for Chinese-made chips from companies, including Cambricon and Huawei.