If working from home has become part of your routine, this is a development worth paying attention to. Shane Legg, co-founder and Chief AGI Scientist at Google DeepMind, has issued a blunt forecast on the future of work, saying rapid advances in artificial intelligence could bring the era of remote jobs and work-from-home arrangements to a close as they exist today.
Expanding on his view, Legg said in a recent interview with Professor Hannah Fry that roles carried out fully online are likely to feel the impact first. As artificial intelligence moves closer to human-level capabilities, he argued, jobs that rely mainly on cognitive work and can be done from anywhere are especially vulnerable.
“Jobs that are purely cognitive and done remotely via a computer are particularly vulnerable,” Legg said, underscoring his concern. He noted that as AI tools become more powerful, companies may no longer need large, geographically scattered teams.
In fields such as software engineering, Legg suggested that what once required 100 engineers could soon be handled by just 20 working with advanced AI. The shift, he warned, would mean fewer roles overall, with entry-level and remote positions likely to be hit first.
Legg also cautioned that the shake-up will not play out the same way across all sectors. He said roles built around digital skills such as language, knowledge work, coding, mathematics and complex problem-solving are likely to face the earliest pressure.
In several of these areas, AI systems already outperform humans, particularly in language use and general knowledge, and he expects rapid gains ahead in reasoning, visual understanding and continuous learning. Jobs that depend on physical, hands-on work, including plumbing or construction, may be insulated for longer, as automating real-world tasks remains far more difficult.
Legg went a step further, warning that AI has the potential to reshape the economy at its core by beating humans at cognitive work and doing it at a lower cost. When machines can handle mental labor more efficiently, he said, the long-standing model of earning a living by selling brainpower comes under strain, leaving many people without conventional jobs. Legg likened ignoring these signals to brushing aside early alerts about major global threats and said the time to prepare for this shift is now.
Even with his stark assessment of job losses in some areas, Legg struck a hopeful note about what AI could ultimately deliver. He said the technology has the potential to usher in a “golden age” marked by sharp gains in productivity, major scientific advances and broader economic growth.
The real test, he argued, will be how that wealth is shared so people can maintain a sense of purpose and security as work evolves. Legg also stressed that the transition will be gradual rather than sudden, but warned that the pace will quicken as AI reaches professional-level performance in knowledge-based roles.