Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says people think governments are using AI ‘to screw them over’, and that’s why the tech is having a ‘a crisis of trust’ — and he’s exactly right

A lot has already been said about the doom and gloom surrounding AI - some of it drawing on the warnings of classic dystopian novels, but much of it grounded in reality.

There is a lot of optimism and promises from those in control of the technology, but not much has emerged in the form of actual benefit.

“I think by far the most accurate criticism of AI companies including Anthropic is that we haven’t yet delivered on our big promises to benefit the world,” Anthropic CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei has said in a post on X .

The technology is suffering from a “crisis of trust” that stems from people’s belief that companies and governments are “cooking up some new way to screw them over,” he argues.

But given how much of the US military, law enforcement, and intelligence gathering infrastructure now relies on AI, are the people wrong? AI can’t public relations its way out of this one As AI technology took off, much of the benefit of the technology was aimed at convincing executives and C-suites that the technology - while unproven - was a worthwhile investment.

As a result, multiple AI leaders positioned the technology as a way to strip away the labor costs of companies by replacing workers with AI.

Some AI gurus are still arguing these points behind closed doors.

I attended a private event this year where an AI "guru" predicted that AI superintelligence would erase as much as 50% of the global workforce within 10 years, and the companies best positioned to take advantage of this cataclysmic event would reap unimaginable control and riches.

This was naturally met by applause from the upper echelons of management from companies in attendance.

Amodei himself famously said that AI could wipe out 50% of white collar jobs.

But he has since restructured this message, saying instead that AI is a ‘multiplier of output’ - or corporate word salad for ‘increasing productivity without having to increase compensation’.

As I have said numerous times, the proof of AI really is in the pudding.

We’ve heard everything that it could do, but seen little benefit in what it can do.

To his point, Amodei acknowledges that.