"Look at the fucking data. There is no job loss with AI. It is an absolute scam to tell the world that AI is taking away jobs." — Boring_Business
SUMMARYStanford researchers and labor analyses found that employment for workers ages 22 to 25 fell by 13% to 20% in high-AI fields such as software development after late 2022. The data also showed a 35% drop in U.S. entry-level postings, while older workers helped keep overall headcount flatter and firms shifted toward more senior, skill-heavy roles.
To make it crystal clear for those who stubbornly refuse to get this point - there are at least two pathways to the end of labour:
Scenario 1: Everyone loses their jobs due to AI taking them.
Scenario 2: Everyone quits their jobs because they no longer need to work.
Now, we can talk about the details of each one, but pretending that one of these options doesn't exist and that I, or anyone else, is "against the end of labour" or "doesn't want jobs to disappear" is disingenuous.
It's about how we get there, and how ugly the pathway is.
Scenario 1: Safety-net to be determined. Chaos, revolution, guillotines, UBI. The Jobpocalypse fantasy.
Scenario 2: Either they made enough money to retire young due to rapidly increasing wages, and/or AI+robots take care of enough of their needs to survive. Why would wages increase? See the multiple other posts on this topic for a detailed explanation of that theory.
The whole point is the end of labour.
But that does not necessarily mean people are simply fired from their jobs and thrown into poverty. There is another pathway: wages rise, unemployment falls, the cost of goods plummet until people retire young into post-scarcity. Automation absorbs the work, abundance rises, and labour becomes optional rather than mandatory.
Firms are hiring more in tech areas since AI makes each engineer more productive, they’re laying off positions that are automated by AI. — John Spannagel AI is creating new job prospects rather, old jobs would go away while new jobs come. — Sumedh
- Data from Stanford researchers and labor analyses confirm 13-20% employment drops for ages 22-25 in high-AI fields like software development since late 2022, with older workers offsetting the losses to keep totals flat.
- Supporting evidence includes 35% drops in US entry-level postings and PwC findings of flat early-career hiring in AI sectors, yet growth in “seniorised” junior roles demanding advanced skills.