Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar corrects critics who say artificial intelligence will cause massive unemployment, and praises his company for allowing companies to hire “more” on “The Bottom Line.”
Sankar was a guest on “The Bottom Line” on Wednesday, where he highlighted the under-discussed reality that AI’s biggest gains are seen not just among software developers, but also among frontline workers like ICU nurses and factory technicians.
His interview came a day after Sanders called for a slowdown in AI development and sounded the alarm about potential mass unemployment in a video on X.
In the video, Sanders wondered how people will survive if they have no income, saying AI and robotics could cause “massive unemployment” by eliminating “millions of jobs.”
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“We need all our people, all the people involved in defining the future of AI, not just a handful of multi-billionaires,” he said. “That is why I will start by pushing for a moratorium on the construction of the data centers that are driving this unregulated sprint to develop and deploy AI. This moratorium will give democracy the opportunity to catch up.”
Sankar refuted these claims, saying the story that is really underreported is that AI is a workers’ revolution.
He told presenters Dagen McDowell and Brian Brenberg that ICU nurses and factory workers will benefit even more from AI, noting that the new technology allows the foreman on the production line to spend more time building parts than on production planning and labor scheduling.
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Shyam Sankar, CTO of Palantir, dismisses unemployment fears and says AI will drive worker growth, faster training and new jobs in the US, while Sanders pushes for a slowdown in development. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Nurses also benefit because they can spend more time with their patients and deliver life-saving care where minutes matter and spend less time gathering information about a patient.
“We have a manufacturing customer who, because they were able to streamline their production scheduling with AI, was able to add a third shift,” Sankar said. “Without some utilization of the labor force, it was not profitable to hire more American workers. This would create more jobs.”
Another example he gave was Panasonic Energy, a Reno, Nevada-based company that builds batteries for electric vehicles.
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A woman walks under the Palantir sign at her booth ahead of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos on May 22, 2022. (Stof Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
An apprenticeship to become a skilled battery technician for the equipment that Panasonic Energy makes normally takes about three years. With AI, the company has managed to hire former casino employees within three months.
He also said AI will have a “dramatic effect” on the way companies like Panasonic Energy hire, train and deploy young talent.
“It’s a complete propaganda ploy coming out of Silicon Valley, where they want to talk about how powerful the technology is: ‘It’s so powerful that it could lead to mass unemployment. So powerful that it could end humanity,'” Sankar said.
“And that’s honestly not true. It’s not what you see on the front lines. What you see is an opportunity for American greatness.”
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An image of artificial intelligence is displayed on a computer screen. (iStock / iStock)
Now that AI is within reach, the technology could lead to an explosion of new businesses. Someone can have an idea, and AI ensures that person can execute it.
But that also leads to questions about whether training will be necessary for the workforce.
Sankar said he thinks colleges will have to reinvent themselves. In Palantir, he said, a meritocracy scholarship has been started for high school students, teaching them technical skills while on the job.
On evenings and weekends, Palantir brings in professors to provide what Sankar says is a “well-rounded” education.
“I think colleges really need to reconsider this,” he said.
Sankar’s view that education must adapt to the new demands stemmed from a broader point that the US is making the same mistake in its AI strategy by pouring billions into data centers while neglecting the side that creates real economic value.
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“Well, I think the president is moving in the right direction with the launch of projects like the Genesis mission,” he said. “We’ve invested a tremendous amount of capital in what I call the AI supply side, building the data centers and the models.
“We need to invest more in the demand side of AI,” Sankar continued. “How do we get economic value from these models? How do these models result in prosperity for the average American worker? And that’s what we’re relentlessly focused on at Palantir.”
