Past Automation Replaced Jobs. AI Will Replace Workers.

Human workers are about to face a competitor unlike any technology that came before: AI systems that can be copied at near-zero cost, deployed instantly, and improved faster than workers can retrain. Economists have long answered automation fears by noting that machines destroy some jobs but create others through lower costs, higher output, and new industries. That pattern held because earlier machines replaced specific tasks while people kept the broader mental abilities needed for other work. AI is beginning to erode that refuge.