Rich is joined by Michael, Phil, and Jack for today’s edition of The Editors, and during the third segment, our panelists discuss a recent Axios story. In it, the CEO of an AI company claims the technology will take over entry-level white-collar jobs in under five years.
Phil thinks the “dramatic elements of this are a bit overstated,” but that “there’s certainly a lot of room for disruption” coming from the AI sector.
“I’m actually more on the optimistic side on AI and the transformation of the labor force,” says Michael, “maybe because I’m pessimistic that AI can do the really difficult cognitive work. . . . Listen, a lot of white-collar jobs were going to be eliminated. I think we were already coming up on the limits of the sort of email jobs economy. . . .”
“I’m not that worried. What I would be worried by is if the machines, in a sense, could create so much prosperity that the drive to work and succeed started attenuating. But I don’t think we’re there yet.”
The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.