Artificial intelligence will replace half of all jobs

Robots are likely to replace 50 percent of all jobs, according to Kai-Fu Lee, founder of venture capital firm Sinovation Ventures and a top voice on tech in China.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the wave of the future, the influential technologist told CNBC, calling it the "singular thing that will be larger than all of human tech revolutions added together, including electricity, [the] industrial revolution, internet, mobile internet — because AI is pervasive."

"It is the decision engine that will replace people," Lee said, adding that AI capabilities far exceed those of humanity.

For example, he said, companies in which his firm has invested can accomplish feats such as recognizing 3 million faces at the same time, or dispersing loans in eight seconds.

"These are things that are superhuman, and we think this will be in every industry, will probably replace 50 percent of human jobs, create a huge amount of wealth for mankind and wipe out poverty," Lee said.

Lee's views on technology are widely followed in part because he previously headed Google China before founding his venture capital firm. He has also held executive posts at many other major tech companies, including Apple and Microsoft, and he has celebrity status in the industry and in China — with millions of social media followers.

Source: Bloomberg

Junior Trader Stefan Panteleev

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