AI is coming for people’s jobs, but there could be a place for them at Airbnb, says CEO Brian Chesky.
Airbnb is currently on a quest to become an “everything app.” The company is expanding beyond short-term rentals and wants to become the go-to booking destination for countless experiences and services, like private chefs, massages, and photography.
While speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Chesky said he thinks jobs in hospitality and services will be relatively safe from AI, for now.
“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,” he said. Notably, recent data suggests rideshare drivers’ wages may have been affected in cities with robotaxis, which are autonomous.
Chesky said hospitality and services aren’t going to be as disrupted by AI as quickly as other industries.
“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,” Chesky said. “When they go to Lake Como, I don’t think they want a robot answering the door for them.”
Especially in the next five to 10 years, he said he thinks the sectors will remain people-driven.
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“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,” he said.
Data suggests AI is already replacing jobs in some of the most at-risk professions, including white-collar jobs, from coders to paralegals to data analysts.
AI leaders, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, have warned that entry-level jobs, including in fields like law and consulting, are especially susceptible to being replaced by AI.
Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist often referred to as “the godfather of AI,” said on a podcast in June that he thinks it will be a long time before AI is good at “physical manipulation,” adding, “So a good bet would be to be a plumber.”
It’s a job that’s perhaps especially lucrative when Airbnb guests ignore those classic bathroom signs about what not to flush.
