AI job apocalypse: how real is the threat to work?

The opinion piece questions claims that AI will cause mass, rapid job losses and notes OECD unemployment is around 5 percent while recent upgrades to ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude prompted sector selloffs.

Many commentators warn that artificial intelligence will bring mass, rapid job losses, especially in the knowledge economy. The opinion piece examines those claims and recent market reactions to upgraded AI models. It notes that OECD unemployment has remained near 5 percent even as some firms report layoffs. The article contrasts apocalyptic forecasts with historical patterns of technology adoption and job creation. Key points: - The article reports a widespread narrative that AI could eliminate large numbers of jobs across both white‑collar and physical work, concentrating gains among those who control the technology. - Recent upgraded versions of ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude, including code‑writing variants, were released; the piece notes OpenAI said its latest update was largely created with the model's assistance. - Those releases were followed by selloffs in software and legal‑tech related stocks, and the article cites anecdotal layoffs at some firms. - The author references historical examples and economic arguments, including the Jevons paradox and the spreadsheet/accounting example, to suggest productivity gains can create new uses and jobs as technologies become cheaper. Summary: The piece concludes that outcomes are uncertain: some sectors may lose jobs while others could see new or transformed work arising from productivity gains. The scale and speed of any widespread unemployment are debated and not settled. Undetermined at this time.