The article discusses the transformative effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market, focusing on its potential to displace middle-class workers. The author uses the example of a friend's storage business where AI is increasing efficiency and reducing the need for human labor. This illustrates a broader trend where AI is automating tasks previously performed by white-collar workers, impacting professions like accounting and law.
The author highlights job cuts in major American companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and JPMorgan, attributed to the increasing implementation of AI. He emphasizes the potential for massive job losses across various white-collar sectors and points to already rising unemployment rates for recent university graduates in the US.
Experts predict tens of millions of white-collar jobs will be at risk. The author notes that even high-paying jobs in finance and law are experiencing decreased hiring due to AI's capability of performing menial tasks previously handled by entry-level workers.
While acknowledging the potential for a 'jobs apocalypse', the author also emphasizes AI's potential for increased productivity and economic growth. He argues that, like past technological revolutions, AI will ultimately create more jobs than it destroys, even if the nature of these new jobs remains uncertain. The article contrasts the economic optimism of America and China in embracing AI with Europe's perceived lagging position.
The author concludes by urging readers to embrace progress and view AI as both a threat and an opportunity. He calls out the focus on declining birth rates as misplaced given the potential for labor surpluses in the age of AI, noting that poor productivity is a more pressing concern than population decline. The article posits that AI offers the promise of increased productivity and renewed prosperity, even if this transition presents significant challenges for the middle class.