As artificial intelligence continues to advance and generate controversy, questions over whether it's a "bubble" or not have proliferated alongside uncertainty about how massive resource investments in technology could even turn a profit.

Tech experts like Cory Doctorow have noted that monetizing speculative technologies like generative AI can function like a shell game — and Geoffrey Hinton, often dubbed the "Godfather of AI," recently reiterated a concerning potential path to profits, as Futurism reported on Saturday.

What's happening?

Hinton earned the honorific "Godfather of AI" through a November 2023 New Yorker profile that focused on his concerns about a technology he helped create.

In May of that year, Hinton resigned from Google to be able to freely voice his concerns.

Two months before his departure, Hinton told CBS News that AI had the potential to disrupt society in a manner "comparable in scale with the industrial revolution or [the advent of] electricity."

In September of this year, Hinton voiced concerns that AI would catastrophically disrupt the labor market, making "a few people much richer and most people poorer."

According to Futurism, Hinton "doubled down" on that prediction during an Oct. 31 interview with Bloomberg TV. When asked about how investments topping $1 trillion could "pay off without destroying jobs," Hinton was blunt.

"I believe that it can't. I believe that to make money, you're going to have to replace human labor," he admitted. Hinton also said the calculus involved was confounded by the very real benefits AI could introduce.

"It's not like nuclear weapons, which are only good for bad things. It's a difficult decision because [AI] can do tremendous good in healthcare and education," he added.

Why is this important?

On Oct. 1, Yale's Budget Lab examined AI's real-time effect on a notoriously difficult job market in 2025, and their findings essentially boiled down to: "It's too soon to tell."

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The labor market has arguably been rattled by the mere prospect of AI replacing jobs, but real impacts have been felt most sharply in other sectors. 

Throughout 2025, Americans have endured skyrocketing energy bills, with AI data centers deemed a major contributor.

AI data centers have proven contentious for reasons beyond shockingly high and rising electricity bills. Companies like OpenAI have been suspiciously unwilling to disclose their environmental impacts, leaving experts to parse secondary data to measure them.

As of September, there were more than 5,400 "power-hungry" AI data centers in the U.S., and Ai4 co-founder Marcus Jecklin told The Cool Down that when executed irresponsibly, the facilities create "price spikes, water stress, and community pushback" locally.

Data centers consume immense amounts of water, and a recent report suggested they also might release PFAS — highly toxic substances also known as "forever chemicals."

What's being done about it?

Despite Hinton's warnings, he clearly believed the AI boom could be harnessed for good, and the technology has proved beneficial in several use cases.

As Yale's Budget Lab observed, AI is still in its infancy — supporting companies that develop the technology responsibly is one way consumers can effect change.

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