AI and Jobs – The Disturbing Truth

This topic is highly controversial. What follows may cause irritation or even provoke a few shaking heads. The message is disturbing and doesn't fit the narrative we've been hearing all along. But let’s take it step by step.

For decades, society has absorbed a comforting story:

"Yes, new technologies destroy some jobs — but they always create more than they eliminate."

This narrative, deeply embedded in political talking points, media commentary, “expert” talk, and public consciousness, has become a form of modern “political correctness.”

We are told not to worry, because the same was true during the Industrial Revolution, the introduction of the steam engine, the arrival of personal computers, and even the birth of the internet. Technology, we are assured, merely augments human work, making our lives easier while opening entirely new career paths.

But this story is now dangerously outdated. The truth is harder, starker, and deeply uncomfortable: For the first time in human history, a technology has emerged that does not merely assist humans – it competes with them directly and may soon outperform them in every meaningful domain. 

The Calm Before the Storm

We stand at what we might describe as the calm before the storm. Society senses a disturbance, a kind of unease, the way animals feel before a volcano erupts. Trust in institutions erodes. People intuit that something monumental is shifting beneath their feet, even if politicians avoid the topic for fear of igniting panic.

Why This Time is Different

For generations, new technologies have transformed work, but they have never made human labor obsolete. The steam engine, the printing press, the automobile, and the personal computer all triggered massive economic shifts, but each invention ultimately created more jobs than it destroyed. Human workers remained at the center of production.

With AI, for the first time in human history, this pattern is breaking. AI is not simply another tool. It is a system that performs cognitive tasks, learns from data, adapts, and increasingly participates in its own development. This makes AI fundamentally different from every previous technological revolution.

In December 2025, the Business Insider published an alarming article on how AI could replace almost every job: "While Andrew Yang has warned AI could wipe out 40 million US jobs in the next decade, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has predicted up to half of entry-level white-collar roles could disappear within five years."

"While Andrew Yang has warned AI could wipe out 40 million US jobs in the next decade, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has predicted up to half of entry-level white-collar roles could disappear within five years." Business Insider, December 2025

An increasing number of sources estimate significant job disruptions from AI automation, e.g. OECD employment outlooks, WEF projections, or McKinsey job displacement stats, just to name a few.

According to the McKinsey report, AI is expected to replace 2.4 million US jobs by 2030, with an additional 12 million occupational shifts. An expected 400 to 800 million people will lose their jobs due to AI. Hypotenuse AI, November 12, 2025

Here's what's different about AI than in previous technological revolutions: 

1. AI Can Generate and Improve Code — Including Code Used to Build AI Systems

Unlike historical technologies, modern AI can already:

• write new software from scratch

• debug and optimize existing code

• generate test suites

• refactor large codebases

• automate parts of the development pipeline

In other words, AI is not just used by programmers, it is becoming a participant in programming itself. While AI cannot yet autonomously redesign or deploy itself without human supervision, it can already contribute to components of its own improvement cycle.

This represents a new category of technology: one that partially develops itself. It is the first step toward a degree of self-improvement no previous invention possessed.

2. AI Develops Exponentially, Not Linearly

Human skill growth is slow and incremental. AI capability growth is exponential. More data, more compute, and architectural refinements can yield sudden leaps in performance. And because AI can help automate parts of its own training pipeline, this exponential curve accelerates further.

What took years in traditional software engineering can now unfold in months or even weeks. This speed makes it impossible for human workers – or regulations – to keep pace.

3. Once AI Can Create Its Own Foundational Models, The Break Point Arrives

While we may not yet have reached this point, the industry is certainly moving toward it. Researchers already experiment with systems that:

• generate improved model architectures

• optimise training strategies

• propose better hyperparameters

• rewrite their own supporting code

If AI ever becomes capable of fully designing and training new foundational models on its own, technological progress will detach from human control entirely. That moment would mark the beginning of continuous, AI-driven acceleration.

Elon Musk captured this sentiment when he said he would be surprised if AI did not make a completely new scientific discovery within just two years – a sign of how quickly the field is evolving.

What AI Can Already Do Today

Entire professions are already being automated, even in the earliest stage of AI’s evolution:

• Translation

• Voiceover

• Call center operations

• Lead generation

• Programming

• Training & education delivery

• Countless emerging workflow-automation tasks

And this list barely scratches the surface. AI is already shockingly competent across reasoning, writing, data analysis, research, creativity, and multi-step planning – skills once believed to be “uniquely human.” It is only a matter of time until AI becomes vastly superior in all of them.

The Denial Problem: Why Society Refuses to Believe This

Recent labor market analysis shows AI may soon displace tens of millions of jobs across sectors.

"34.7% of workers are actively concerned that AI will significantly alter or displace their jobs." Cohenovate, November 2025

Yet people who warn that AI could eliminate nearly all jobs are often dismissed as alarmists or maybe even as ignorants who don't really know what they are talking about.

Why?

Because it sounds like an unrealistic science ficiton story. And because the alternative narrative – that AI creates more jobs than it destroys – is emotionally soothing. It fits our worldview. It avoids existential fear. It protects our identity as the “crown of creation.”

Even politicians and CEOs avoid the topic because acknowledging AI-driven job extinction opens terrifying follow-up questions: What happens to our economic system? How will people survive? What does society look like without work?

No one has answers to these disturbing questions. Ignoring the issue feels easier. But it will not remain possible for long.

Robotics: When AI Steps Into the Physical World

The real tipping point will come when AI merges with robotics. And this moment is rapidly approaching.

A Morgan Stanley analysis highlights the rapid acceleration of humanoid robots, projects the market could reach $5 trillion by 2050, and estimates potential deployment of more than 1 billion humanoid robots globally as technology develops.

“The humanoid robot market could surpass $5 trillion by 2050, with widespread adoption increasing as technology and regulatory support evolve.” Morgan Stanley, May 2025

Companies such as Boston Dynamics (Atlas), Tesla (Optimus Robot), Figure AI (Figure 01 and Figure 02) are already building robots with physical capabilities that exceed those of humans – strength, balance, precision, speed, repeatability, endurance. These machines will soon be affordable, scalable, and deployable across all industries.

This means no profession is safe:

• Electricians

• Plumbers

• Carpenters

• Gardeners

• Painters

• Service workers

• Factory workers

• Drivers

• Even highly skilled specialists

Many jobs that rely on routine tasks are increasingly susceptible to automation — though the pace and extent of displacement will vary by sector and region. And eventually, even creative and interpersonal jobs are likely to follow.

As AI pioneer Stuart Russell put it, "...sectors once considered safe — from driving and logistics to accounting, software engineering, and even medicine — are likely to be swept up in the coming wave of automation."

"Sectors once considered safe — from driving and logistics to accounting, software engineering, and even medicine — are likely to be swept up in the coming wave of automation." Stuart Russell, AI Pioneer

AI Robots As Life Partners

Researchers and labs are already developing robots that resemble humans, speak naturally, and emulate authentic emotional connection.

Coupled with AI’s conversational intelligence and personalization, these machines will not only cook, clean, repair, and manage households; as provocative and outrageous as it may sound, they will also serve as configurable life partners.

This raises profound ethical and psychological questions, but the technological trajectory is clear.

Morality vs. Reality: Why Ethical Arguments Won't Stop This

Some will insist that companies must act ethically – that society should regulate or slow down this transformation. But two facts make this unrealistic:

1. Not all countries will regulate equally. Some will embrace AI to gain competitive advantage.

2. The market decides.

Cheaper products win. Always.

If robots reduce production costs, companies without robots will die. Consumers will choose the cheaper option – even if it destroys jobs.

The Coming Social Crisis

Looking at what will come next, there is a high probability that millions of people will lose their jobs, and the new tech-industry jobs will not absorb them.

A bus driver will not become a virtual-reality designer. A mid-level insurance clerk will not transform into a big-data analyst. These are fantasies, not workforce strategies.

We must stop pretending that “new jobs” will magically fix structural unemployment. They won't.

Two Existential Threats

Elon Musk once said the greatest danger to humanity is not nuclear weapons, but AI.

There are two reasons for this bold statement:

1. AI may replace human labor entirely.

2. AI may one day develop a form of self-preservation not aligned with human interests – which researchers have already observed emerging unexpectedly. 

As artificial intelligence and automation accelerate, many experts and tech leaders have proposed Universal Basic Income (UBI) — recurring unconditional payments to all adults — as a potential safety net for workers displaced by automation. Prominent figures such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk have publicly supported versions of UBI, arguing it may be necessary to maintain economic stability in a rapidly transforming labor market (4)

This is no longer an abstract philosophical concern. It is a real challenge for humankind.

What Society Must Consider: Policy Options for an AI-Dominated Future

If AI truly replaces a substantial share of human labor, then the economic structures built on full-time employment will no longer function as they do today. To avoid societal instability, we must begin thinking proactively about new frameworks that allow people to live meaningful, secure lives even when traditional employment is no longer the norm.

Here are several options increasingly discussed among economists, policymakers, and technologists:

1. Universal Basic Income (UBI)

UBI is one of the most frequently proposed solutions to large-scale technological unemployment. It provides every adult with a regular, unconditional payment, ensuring a basic level of financial security regardless of whether human labor is still economically competitive.

Supporters argue that if AI and robotics generate extraordinary productivity gains — and concentrate that wealth among a small set of companies — UBI could serve as a mechanism to redistribute value back to society. It would also give individuals freedom to pursue education, creativity, caregiving, entrepreneurship, or volunteer work rather than relying on traditional jobs for survival.

2. Universal Basic Services (UBS)

Another model focuses not on income but on access. Universal Basic Services would guarantee essential needs — such as healthcare, education, housing assistance, transportation, and digital access — at little or no cost. If AI reduces the need for human labor, these services become even more critical to preventing social fragmentation.

3. Taxation of Automation and AI Productivity

Some economists propose taxing companies based on the value or scale of automation replacing human workers. Such a tax would serve two purposes:

• Slow down excessive or irresponsible automation

• Generate revenue for public programs such as UBI, retraining, or transition assistance

While controversial, this debate will intensify as humanoid robots begin performing physical labor at industrial scale.

4. Profit-Sharing or ‘Robot Dividend’ Models

If AI and robotics create vast economic productivity, society could implement a system where a portion of AI-driven profits is shared with the public. This concept — sometimes referred to as a “robot dividend” — ensures that technological progress benefits everyone, not just corporations or investors.

5. Redefining the Meaning of Work and Purpose

Even with financial stability, society must address a deeper question: What gives people meaning when traditional work disappears?

Education systems may need to shift away from preparing individuals for specific jobs and instead focus on:

• critical thinking

• emotional intelligence

• creativity

• community involvement

• entrepreneurship

• lifelong learning

We may need new social norms that value contribution, well-being, and purpose, not just employment.

6. Early Regulation and AI Governance

Finally, governments must establish guardrails before AI becomes fully autonomous in its development and deployment. This includes:

• transparency requirements for AI systems

• oversight committees

• international cooperation on safety standards

• ethical constraints on humanoid robotics

• accountability mechanisms for misuse or unintended consequences

Waiting until AI is deeply embedded in every industry will be too late.

Closing Summary

We are entering a phase of technological development unlike any in human history. Artificial intelligence is no longer just another tool — it is rapidly becoming a system capable of performing cognitive, creative, and increasingly physical tasks at a scale no workforce can match. While past technological revolutions displaced specific roles, AI challenges the very foundation of human employment itself.

Whether this transition unfolds over ten, twenty, or thirty years, the direction is unmistakable. The question is no longer if AI will transform the global labor market, but how prepared we are to deal with the consequences. The greatest risk now is not the technology itself, but our collective refusal to confront what such a future demands of our economic, social, and political systems.

Note: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracy and clarity.

#ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfWork #AIDisruption #Automation #AIRevolution #DigitalTransformation #WorkforceTransformation #AIFuture #SocietalImpact

References:

1. Business Insider, "This AI pioneer says AI could replace almost every job — even CEOs", December 4, 2025 (Link)

2. Morgan Stanley, "Humanoids: A $5 Trillion Market", May 14, 2025 (Link)

3. Business Insider, "Will AI Replace human jobs and make universal basic income necessary?", February 27, 2025 (Link)

4. Cohenovate, "When AI Takes Your Job and You Don't Want to Upskill: The Uncomfortable Truth No One's Telling You", November 9, 2025 (Link)