Skip to main content current edition: International edition The Guardian - Back to home Become a supporter Subscribe Find a job Jobs Sign in Search Show More Close with google sign in become a supporter subscribe search find a job dating more from the guardian: change edition: edition International edition The Guardian - Back to home browse all sections close Artificial intelligence (AI) Alibaba founder Jack Ma: AI will cause people ‘more pain than happiness’ The billionaire said key social conflict will be the rise of artificial intelligence and longer life expectancy, which will lead to aging workforce fighting for fewer jobs Jack Ma issued the warning to encourage businesses to adapt or face problems in the future.
 problems in the future.
 Photograph: VCG via Getty Images Artificial intelligence (AI) Alibaba founder Jack Ma: AI will cause people ‘more pain than happiness’ The billionaire said key social conflict will be the rise of artificial intelligence and longer life expectancy, which will lead to aging workforce fighting for fewer jobs Olivia Solon in San Francisco @oliviasolon email Mon 24 Apr ‘17 21.
00 BST Last modified on Mon 24 Apr ‘17 22.
48 BST This article is 9 months old Artificial intelligence and other technologies will cause people “more pain than happiness” over the next three decades, according to Jack Ma, the billionaire chairman and founder of Alibaba.
 “Social conflicts in the next three decades will have an impact on all sorts of industries and walks of life,” said Ma, speaking at an entrepreneurship conference in China about the job disruptions that would be created by automation and the internet.
 A key social conflict will be the rise of artificial intelligence and longer life expectancy, which will lead to an aging workforce fighting for fewer jobs.
 AI is getting brainier: when will the machines leave us in the dust?
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 Robots can make calculations more quickly and rationally than humans, Ma added, and won’t be swayed by emotions, for example by getting angry at competitors.
 Leaders who don’t understand that cloud computing and artificial intelligence are essential for business should identify young people in their companies to explain it to them, he said.
 His comments echo a number of studies suggesting that automation will eliminate jobs, including a Forrester study that suggested 6% of all jobs in the US would be eliminated by 2021.