Blog
Prof. Richard Susskind on AI’s Future: The AI Revolution That Will Replace Entire Industries
Ilan Gross
August 25, 2025
Introduction
In a compelling talk at the Oxford Martin School, Prof. Richard Susskind — a leading authority on AI and law — explored the future of artificial intelligence and shared insights from his latest book, How To Think About AI: A Guide for the Perplexed. You can watch the full discussion here.
Susskind highlighted AI’s explosive growth, sharing how GPT-4 gave him a “shiver” when it produced an article draft mirroring his own style. He outlined six hypotheses for AI’s trajectory — from hype to singularity — and urged society to prepare for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) between 2030 and 2035.
But while his vision is powerful, it doesn’t capture the full scope of what’s happening.
The AI revolution isn’t just replacing jobs — it’s replacing entire industries.
Read Related Pages:
AI Consulting Services
The Six Hypotheses of AI’s Future
Prof. Richard Susskind identifies six possibilities for AI’s evolution:
- Hype – Another “AI winter” stalls progress.
- Gen AI Plus – Incremental improvements to generative AI.
- AGI – Machines achieve human-level intelligence.
- Superintelligence – AI surpasses human intelligence.
- Singularity – Technology accelerates beyond comprehension.
- AI Evolution – Continuous, unpredictable advancement.
He dismisses the hype scenario, citing massive investment and breakthroughs like ChatGPT. With computing power doubling every six months, Susskind argues AGI by the 2030s is a real possibility. But here’s the overlooked point: AI won’t just change professions — it will eliminate the need for entire sectors.
AI in Media: The End of Traditional Gatekeepers
One of the first industries on the chopping block is media. For centuries, newspapers and broadcasters have filtered and controlled information. But with AI, that model collapses.
Generative AI can already:
- Summarize global news instantly.
- Produce personalized reports in any style.
- Deliver analysis free of ads, delays, or corporate bias.
Instead of consuming what editors decide, you’ll have AI as your personal information curator. And unlike human journalists, AI doesn’t just rely on news sources — it can pull from economics, psychology, history, and even cultural studies to present a deeper, more contextual understanding of events.
This marks the beginning of a post-media world, where entire newsrooms and broadcasting networks could be replaced by direct, personalized access to knowledge.
AI in Education: Personalized, Adaptive, and Interdisciplinary
Education is another sector facing massive disruption. Prof. Richard Susskind predicts AI will transform learning, but the revolution is even more profound than he suggests.
AI can already:
- Adapt lessons to individual learning speeds.
- Create interactive simulations and professional training.
- Deliver real-time feedback across any subject.
But here’s what makes AI fundamentally different: it doesn’t just teach within the boundaries of traditional education. It integrates knowledge from pedagogy, neuroscience, psychology, and even data analytics to create personalized learning paths that are more effective than any classroom.
This means schools and universities are losing their monopoly. AI becomes the ultimate tutor, combining insights from multiple disciplines to deliver holistic, adaptive education at scale.
AI in Healthcare: Beyond Human Doctors
Healthcare may be where AI’s power becomes most undeniable. Yes, AI already outperforms doctors in diagnosing cancers, spotting rare diseases, and analyzing scans with remarkable precision. But its greatest advantage is broader: AI can draw on knowledge from all disciplines — medical and non-medical — at the same time.
A human doctor is limited to a single specialty. A cardiologist knows the heart, an oncologist knows cancer, a neurologist knows the brain. Even teams of doctors can only pool so much expertise. No individual can possibly master the entirety of human medicine, let alone related sciences.
AI, however, doesn’t face that limitation. It integrates insights not only from cardiology, oncology, neurology, genetics, pharmacology, and immunology, but also from chemistry, physics, nutrition, psychology, engineering, and data science. This allows it to perform holistic, interdisciplinary analysis that no human could attempt.
Imagine: AI analyzing a patient’s genetic profile, combining it with lifestyle and environmental data, modeling long-term outcomes, and simulating drug interactions — all in one process. A doctor may consult a few specialists, but AI can consult all of science instantly.
This makes AI not just a better diagnostician, but a fundamentally different kind of medical intelligence. It is the world’s first truly holistic physician — something no human could ever be.
The True AI Revolution: Bigger Than Susskind’s Vision
Prof. Richard Susskind is right to highlight AI’s risks: job displacement, wealth concentration, weaponization, and the lack of institutional preparedness. But the revolution runs deeper than his Oxford talk suggests.
AI isn’t just disrupting professions — it’s dismantling industries:
- Media: Obsolete as AI curates personalized, interdisciplinary information.
- Education: Rebuilt as adaptive, holistic, and global.
- Healthcare: Transformed into AI-driven, multidisciplinary medicine.
This isn’t hype. It’s already happening. And it means society must prepare not just for new tools, but for a world where industries themselves are replaced by AI-driven systems.
Final Word: Preparing for the AI Era
The AI future is no longer a thought experiment. With AGI looming in the 2030s, industries we’ve relied on for centuries are already being reshaped.
Prof. Richard Susskind’s vision is insightful, but the truth is even bigger: AI doesn’t just replace jobs — it replaces industries by combining all knowledge into one holistic intelligence.
The question is not whether this will happen. The question is: will we shape this revolution, or let it reshape us?
Future-proof your organisation
Book a free consultation today to learn about how Lumen’s AI consultants can help your business.
Ilan Gross