Whom is AI replacing? We deserve to know.

This year, there has been an ever-growing list of companies making significant workforce reductions. Snapchat’s owner cut 16 percent of employees. Block Inc., parent company of Square and Cash App, eliminated a staggering 40 percent. Most recently, Meta shed 10 percent. This trend even prompted the Wall Street Journal to question whether the U.S. has entered the era of the “mega-layoff.”

For the most part, these layoffs are excitedly explained to investors. The expensive employees are being replaced by cheaper AI, and the cuts will supposedly free up capital for more investments into technology. 

Although companies boast in detail about innovation, they are curiously silent about which workers are paying the costs. That silence matters. If AI is fundamentally changing the labor market, then we need to know, in real time, which jobs are being eliminated, so that society can adapt. Firms should therefore be required to publicly disclose which jobs are being eliminated due to AI as soon as it happens.

There is a great debate about the impact of AI on society. In Silicon Valley, there are fears of mass white collar firings and a need for universal basic income. Shedding millions of jobs would create economic disparity and labor market distress like the world has never seen. We are at the beginning of that potential transition. 

We can still take actions that would lead to an easier landing.........

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