"What's actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers," Hinton told the FT.

"It's going to create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits. It will make a few people much richer and most people poorer."

"That's not AI's fault," he continued. "That is the capitalist system."

Although OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his ilk have, as the FT notes, suggested introducing a universal basic income (UBI) to counteract AI-induced unemployment, Hinton claimed that such a stopgap "won't deal with human dignity" and the loss of purpose people may experience without work.

Though timelines for this jobs armageddon weren't provided, Hinton did put dates to another forthcoming AI revolution: when the technology could become superintelligent, able to out-think even the cleverest humans.

"A lot of scientists agree between five and 20 years," he said. "That's the best bet."