In late May, humanity CEO Dario Amodei appeared to have opened the door on a sensitive topic, warning that within five years, half of the entry-level jobs had disappeared, pushing unemployment rates up to 20%. But Amodei is far from sharing his foreshadowing the Bloodbath of the workforce aloud. The new WSJ story highlights how other CEOs are publishing disastrous predictions about the impact of AI on jobs, turning employment doom into a competitive sport.
Some of these predictions came before Amody's comments. For example, on JPMorgan's Annual Investor Day, May ago, consumer bank chief Marianne Lake predicted that AI would “enable” a 10% workforce cut. But they came quickly and have grown ever since. In a memo last month, Amazon's Andy Jassy warned employees to expect less workforce due to “once in a lifetime” technological change. The CEO of Thredup said at a meeting last month that AI “destroys more jobs than the average person thinks.” To avoid losing, Ford's Jim Farley conveyed perhaps the most drastic argument last week, saying that AI “literally replaces half of all white-collar workers in the United States.”
This is a dramatic shift from previous careful statements from executives regarding the movement of duties, the Journal notes. In fact, the outlet suggests that some tech leaders from powerful AI companies are proposing that fear is exaggerated, but that a massive restructuring is coming, whether people are ready for them or not.
