11 Million US Workers May Need To Switch Careers By 2035

This month has made it very clear how AI doom narratives are promoted in an information operation through public relations firms, billionaires, and endless streams of climate-like doom corporate media headlines. These efforts aim to shape public opinion about AI and push for tighter regulation, giving those at the top of frontier labs moats.

The headlines have ranged from claims that AI will take tens of millions of jobs to, more recently, Bill Gates warning that AI could “cause a billion deaths” as he calls for regulation. But like Gates’ climate predictions, much of the doomerism seems to be hyped up.

As for the AI jobs-apocalypse narrative, it may be overblown. A new report by McKinsey & Co. suggests AI could force roughly 11 million US workers to change occupations by 2035 – or about 7% of the current workforce.

McKinsey describes the labor market disruption as more of a transitional period for working-class folks in low-skilled jobs rather than an outright jobs apocalypse. However, six out of seven affected workers could face income loss.

“Job opportunities can be abundant and yet leave millions of workers without work if those positions require different skills, credentials, locations or pay structures than current jobs,” the report’s authors stated.

The US economy has navigated technological changes before, and there is nothing new under the sun: from tractors displacing farm workers in the fields to automated factories replacing workers on an assembly line, computerized offices, and online retail. Those transitions lifted productivity but disrupted the labor market, requiring workers to retrain and find new jobs.

Over time, living standards rise, and the economy adapts. But apocalyptic narratives of tens of millions of job losses and warnings like Gates’ claim that AI could “cause a billion deaths” represent perhaps what can only be described as peak doomerism.