On my way to meet a friend in Silicon Valley a few weeks ago, I passed three self-driving Waymos gliding through traffic. These cars are everywhere now, moving as if they’ve been part of the landscape forever. When I arrived, the wonder of those futuristic cars gave way to a far more troubling glimpse of what lies ahead.
My friend told me that a huge call center in the Philippines — one his venture capital firm had invested in — had just deployed AI agents capable of replacing 80% of its work force. The tone in his voice wasn’t triumphant. It was filled with discomfort. He knew that thousands of workers depended on those jobs to pay for food, rent and medicine. But they were disappearing overnight. Even worse, over the next few years this could happen across the entire Filipino call center industry, which directly accounts for 7-10% of the nation’s GDP.
That conversation stayed with me. What’s happening in the Philippines is connected to what’s happening on the streets of San Francisco; Phoenix; Austin, Texas; Atlanta; and Los Angeles — cities where driverless cars now operate.
I believe artificial intelligence will displace workers at a scale many people don’t yet realize. In less than a decade, Uber and Lyft shrank the taxi industry. Self-driving cars could replace human drivers just as quickly. Once autonomous vehicles dominate ride-sharing, delivery routes and long-haul trucking won’t be far behind. In the coming years, AI and robotics are likely to significantly reduce the level of human labor needed in occupations as varied as warehouse work and software engineering. We’ve seen economic displacement caused by globalization and immigration lead to frustration and division. The next wave, fueled by automation, will hit faster and cut deeper.
Because of this, my friend has decided to commit 1% of his firm’s profits to help people learn new skills for jobs, demonstrating what leadership looks like in the AI age. I believe every company benefiting from automation should follow this lead and dedicate 1% of its profits to help retrain the people who are being displaced.
This isn’t charity. It’s in the best interest of these companies. If the public sees corporate profits soaring while livelihoods evaporate, backlash will follow — through regulation, taxes or outright bans on automation. Helping retrain workers is common sense, and such a small ask that companies would barely feel it, while the public benefit could be enormous. Even corporations will suffer if AI dislocates large parts of the labor force, because newly unemployed people won’t be able to afford their products and services.
The threat of artificial intelligence isn’t only a jobs crisis; it’s an education challenge. The problem isn’t that people can’t work. It’s that we haven’t built systems to help them continue learning and connect to new opportunities as the economy changes rapidly.
We don’t need to send millions of people back to college. We need flexible, free pathways to hiring that start early and extend through life. Our economy needs low-cost ways for people to demonstrate what they know. Imagine a system where capability matters more than seat time, where demonstrated skills earn credit and employers recognize those credits as proof of readiness for apprenticeships — in the trades, health care, hospitality or new white-collar jobs that don’t yet exist.
I’ve spent nearly two decades trying to help people learn at every age. I’ve seen how many are locked out of growing fields because they lack basic reading, math and science skills that should be mastered by high school. I’ve also seen what becomes possible when people gain access to free education that meets them where they are and lets them learn at their own pace. The same approach can help workers prepare for new careers.
Millions of jobs will be waiting. The US Bureau of Labour Statistics projects nearly two million health care openings each year for the next decade. UNESCO estimates a global shortage of 44 million teachers by 2030. Construction needs more than 500,000 additional workers annually, and demand for electricians and plumbers continues to grow. Hospitality and elder care — work rooted in empathy and human presence — are expanding, not shrinking. There is no shortage of meaningful work, only a shortage of pathways into it.
The New York Times