With artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly developing, fears are increasing about how it will displace workers. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, predicts that AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs within the next one to five years. This dire prediction comes on the heels of 1.9 million Americans still receiving unemployment insurance. This figure represents the largest total we’ve observed since 2021.
AI platforms such as Claude, now available in ChatGPT, have popped up as sunny, congenial pals to users. This rapid advancement has led to significant debates about how these technologies will slot into the workforce. One YC startup after another has been pitching AI as a replacement for employees. They are luring businesses with claims of greater productivity and huge savings. Companies are allegedly paying out $1 million to recruit only three AI agents. This moves us into an important conversation about the future roles of human workers.
The post-pandemic economy ultimately heightens the need for this conversation. With each new hire seen as a gamble, businesses are adopting AI tools in droves. Thanks to AI, one expert manager can now effectively supervise as many as 20 locations simultaneously. This innovation has led to the firing of 19 old-school managers. What to do with those displaced workers is mostly an afterthought.
Amodei highlights a critical aspect of this transformation: “Most [of these workers are] unaware that this is about to happen,” he stated, emphasizing the need for awareness among employees regarding the impending changes in their job landscape. He said, “I know it sounds insane, and that’s why people don’t believe it.” His remarks get to the heart of the skepticism that too often permeates conversations about AI’s capabilities and implications.
With AI making its transformative mark in industries around the world, just as it has been executed in the fintech sector, fintech apps such as Dave, Albert, and Charlie have masked their transactional intent with friendly façades. AI personification, whether by calling in an assistant named Devin or otherwise, raises immediate ethical questions. It makes workers’ jobs, manual and brain alike, into job-displacing automatons.
Loizos has been writing about Silicon Valley since the late ’90s, when he came to Silicon Valley for Red Herring magazine. He is both amazed and terrified by the speed with which AI is impacting work environments. The question lingers: when will actual “Devins”—the human workers behind these technologies—begin to voice their concerns about being replaced?
Add all of that up and the prevailing narrative is one of increasing acceptance of AI as a new, seamless member of the workforce. As businesses embrace these technologies for their operational efficiency, they must grapple with the social consequences of such decisions. The prospect of mass displacement for the first rung of the job ladder is fraught and deserves serious contemplation.
