A 4-day work week will be a reality in 30 years, says Alibaba's Jack Ma

Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, sees artificial intelligence outpacing human knowledge in the next 30 years, squeezing jobs across the world.

But it's not all that gloomy. The billionaire businessman predicts shorter work weeks due to automation.

"I think in the next 30 years, people will only work four hours a day and maybe four days a week," Ma told CNBC at the Gateway '17 Conference. "My grandfather worked 16 hours a day in the farmland and [thought he was] very busy. We work eight hours, five days a week and think we are very busy."


But the transition, Ma points, will be painful. He, in fact, sees a third World War coming.

"The first technology revolution caused World War I," Ma told the channel. "The second technology revolution caused World War II. This is the third technology revolution."

He ultimately believes humans will prevail over machines, saying, "humans will win".