Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky has said that his company will offer jobs to those who may get replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) in the coming days. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, Chesky said that his company will hire these workers as Airbnb is currently working to become an “everything app,” which will expand beyond short-term rentals to become a destination for a variety of experiences and services, such as booking private chefs, massages, and photography. He also noted that AI may impact many jobs, yet positions in hospitality and services will be relatively safe. Chesky thinks that these roles will be protected from AI, at least for now.
What Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said about AI replacing jobs
“I hope that if AI displaces a lot of jobs, I hope we could be a place for at least some of those jobs to expand to. And I think a lot of people are going to come to us,” Chesky said at the conference
He also noted that hospitality and services are unlikely to face rapid disruption from AI compared to other industries. He believes these sectors will remain largely people-driven, particularly over the next five to ten years.“I still think when people go to Bordeaux and they drink a bottle of wine, I don’t think they want that to be an AI-driven experience. When they go to Lake Como, I don’t think they want a robot answering the door for them.”
Chesky explained.According to a report by Business Insider, recent data indicates that rideshare drivers’ earnings may have been impacted in cities where autonomous robotaxis operate.“I doubt humans are driving cars at some point in the future, and so all those drivers that are driving for money will probably have to do something else,”
Chesky said about robotaxis replacing human drivers in the coming days.
However, data indicates that AI is already replacing roles in some of the most vulnerable professions, including white-collar jobs like coders, paralegals, and data analysts.Experts such as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have cautioned that entry-level positions in fields like law and consulting are particularly at risk.
Meanwhile, in June, Geoffrey Hinton, who is widely known as the “godfather of AI,” predicted on a podcast that AI will likely take a long time to master “physical manipulation,” suggesting that trades like plumbing may be a safer bet — and often a profitable one, especially when Airbnb guests disregard bathroom rules.