Asger Risom
Huang presents the ‘task versus purpose’ idea, effectively reshaping AI job fears.
Fears that artificial intelligence will wipe out entire professions are growing louder. But Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang argues that those anxieties misunderstand what jobs actually consist of — and where AI’s real impact lies.
Tasks, not jobs
Speaking on the No Priors podcast, Huang said people often confuse individual tasks with the broader purpose of a role. In his view, AI is designed to automate tasks, not eliminate the human responsibility behind outcomes.
Most jobs, he said, are built from repeatable actions wrapped inside a larger mission. When AI compresses the routine work, the purpose usually remains — and can even become more important.
Radiology as proof
Huang pointed to radiology as a clear example. In 2016, AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton predicted the field would be largely automated and advised students to avoid it.
Instead, demand has grown. While AI now helps analyse scans, the number of radiologists has increased, not fallen. US diagnostic radiology residency programmes offered a record 1,208 places in 2025, and vacancy rates remain high. Average pay has also risen sharply since before those predictions.
Huang said this happened because reading scans is a task, not the job’s purpose. Diagnosing disease, guiding treatment and being accountable for decisions still require human specialists.
Productivity paradox
Huang applied the same logic to his own work. He said much of his day involves typing — a task that AI tools can now speed up or automate.
“The fact that somebody could use AI to automate a lot of my typing — I really appreciate that,” he said. “It hasn’t really made me, if you will, less busy. In a lot of ways, I become more busy because I’m able to do more work.”
The gains, he argued, expand what people can handle rather than making them redundant.
Beyond tech
The pattern is emerging across industries. In software engineering, AI can reduce time spent writing code while increasing demand for people who decide what problems to solve next.
Huang said the same applies to law, where drafting contracts is a task but protecting clients and exercising judgment is the real job. Even waiting tables fits the model, he argued, with order-taking secondary to ensuring customers have a good experience.
“If some AI is taking the order or even delivering the food, their job is still helping us have a great experience,” he said.
Reform, not removal
Huang does not deny disruption. Roles will change, and some tasks will disappear. But he says the evidence so far points toward job reform rather than mass elimination.
For workers, the implication is practical. Jobs defined mainly by repetitive tasks face the greatest pressure. Roles grounded in outcomes, judgment and accountability may instead be reshaped — with AI acting as a tool that changes how work is done, not why it exists.
Sources: Business Insider, No Priors podcast
