Workers will be replaced by AI
Companies are already using AI to reduce headcount and automate work, while the people displaced by that transition receive few guarantees about what comes next.
Even before AI has fully matured, it is already pushing workers out of their jobs. Young workers in AI-exposed occupations saw a 16% relative decline in employment, while experienced workers stayed stable.1 Employers now cite AI more than any other reason for layoffs.2 Forecasters already put the share of work AI could take over alarmingly high.
- Goldman Sachs estimated generative AI could expose the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs to automation.3
- Goldman Sachs also estimated about two-thirds of jobs in the U.S. and Europe are exposed, with up to a quarter of all work doable entirely by AI.4
- Office and administrative support topped the list at 46% of tasks automatable, followed by legal work at 44%.5
- Salesforce cut roughly 4,000 customer service roles after its CEO said he needed fewer people.6
- Andy Challenger, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said that whether or not individual jobs are replaced by AI, the money for those roles is.7
AI-linked layoffs picking up notably in late 2025-2026:
- In 2025, companies cited AI in 54,836 announced layoffs, about 5% of all cuts.6
- By July 2025, employment for software developers aged 22–25 had fallen nearly 20% from its late-2022 peak.8
- In May 2026, AI accounted for 40% of all announced job cuts, the most ever recorded in a single month.9
- By June 2026, AI had been cited in 101,743 U.S. job cuts, nearly double the total for all of 2025.6
These companies continue to race to automate work while workers pay the price. As models continue to improve, the types of work that they can do will continue to expand. A model doesn't need to be perfect to take your job, it just needs to match your ability (or do worse than you, but for cheaper than it costs to pay you). If Recursive Self Improvement is pursued without a plan, widespread layoffs are all but inevitable.