A recent non-scientific poll conducted by Quartz Magazine asked if companies should protect workers displaced by artificial intelligence (AI). Over 80% of respondents believed they should. Apparently Chinese courts feel the same way. In recent rulings, “Chinese courts have ruled that companies cannot terminate employees simply to replace them with AI systems, establishing a legal principle that puts the cost of technological transformation on employers rather than workers.”[1]

If you follow the headlines, you know that tech companies have made thousands of workers redundant over the past couple of years — and AI has been cited as the reason why. Geoffrey Hinton, one of the godfathers of artificial intelligence, is among those who foresee the possibility of mass layoffs as a result of AI taking over jobs. He writes, “My sense is unless we act quickly, the huge increases in productivity that AI will surely bring could be accompanied by some very negative side-effects. It will likely replace most jobs that involve mundane, intellectual labor. This will lead to greater inequality which will provide a breeding ground for violent populists.”[2] A Gallup poll conducted a few years ago found that 72% of Chief Human Resources Officers surveyed predicted that AI would replace jobs in their organization.[3] Management expert Faisal Hoque insists, if the so-called AI-driven “Job Apocalypse” or “jobpocalypse” occurs, it will be a manmade crisis. He explains, “The disruption is presented as being like the weather — something we must prepare for, adapt to, endure. Hiding behind this phrasing is a very different reality: These changes are the downstream consequences of decisions made in specific boardrooms by specific people reacting to specific financial incentives.”[4] There is no doubt that AI is changing the workforce; but, is there reason to panic?

Getting at the Truth

Another AI godfather, Professor Yann LeCun, insists the panic is unjustified. He has stated, “[AI] is not going to put a lot of people out of work permanently.”[5] That said, AI is going to have serious impact. Journalist Megan Cerullo reports, “Artificial intelligence will dramatically change the nature of work, but stop short of replacing most employees, according to a recent analysis. Over the next three years, AI will ‘reshape’ between 50% and 55% of U.S. jobs, Boston Consulting Group researchers estimated.”[6] We see signs of the change in the workforce all around us. Senior writer Emily Gaines-Buchler reports, “The headlines are scary, reporting one round of mass layoffs after another from companies including Amazon, Microsoft, HP, General Motors, and UPS. .... Hiring remains at a record low, with 1.28 million fewer people getting hired in 2025 than in 2024.”[7]

As noted above, many of the layoffs mentioned by Gaines-Buchler were attributed to AI. However, Johns Hopkins professor Ritu Agarwal says the data isn’t so clear. She told Gaines-Buchler, “I've never seen a technology as revolutionary as AI. It's significantly changing and will continue the change how we work, but that doesn't mean humans will no longer be needed. Humans will steer the ship and be needed in different capacities. When people say so many of the job losses are attributable to AI, I have a hard time swallowing that because the cause and effect aren't clearly established. There's a lot of media hype, and the data is patchy at best.”

Agarwal isn’t alone in questioning the current storyline about AI and job losses. White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett recently stated, “There's no sign in the data that AI is costing anybody their job right now, but we are studying the future of AI and what it means for the workforce, so we've got a big taskforce on that.”[8] Journalist Nat Rubio-Licht agrees that the data does not yet support an AI job apocalypse. She writes, “AI is likely not the sole reason for these cuts. Rather, it’s the excuse these companies can use. By claiming to reorganize around AI, these companies stand to make themselves appear to be riding the innovation curve. Plenty of tech firms over-hired during the pandemic. The reality is that these cuts are more likely AI washing, using the tech as a scapegoat for the reductions rather than admitting they miscalculated.”[9]

Will There Be an AI Apocalypse?

Andrew Ng, a well-known AI expert and evangelist, writes, “The story that AI will lead to massive unemployment is stoking unnecessary fear. AI — like any other technology — does affect jobs, but telling overblown stories of large-scale unemployment is irresponsible and damaging. Let’s put a stop to it.”[10] Economic journalist Greg Ip writes, “It was only a matter of time before the AI apocalypse theory went mainstream. … AI disruption makes news almost daily. … But I keep stumbling over one small problem with the doomsday vision: It requires a breakdown in how the market economy functions. Nothing like it has happened in the U.S. before, and there is no evidence it is happening now.”[11]

Despite the lack of evidence of an AI jobpocalypse, columnist Ezra Klein reports people remain worried. He writes, “A Quinnipiac poll in March found that 70 percent of Americans think that artificial intelligence will lead to fewer job opportunities for human beings, up from 56 percent a year ago. Thirty percent say they’re worried for their own jobs. And why not? Warnings of a coming labor market apocalypse feature prominently in the remarks of A.I. leaders.”[12] Klein, like Rubio-Licht, suspects some tech companies attributing layoffs to AI are insincere. He explains, “It’s worth being cautious. These tech companies might be unwinding a hiring binge and telling the stock market the tale likeliest to excite or appease investors.”

Klein believes there won’t be an AI jobpocalypse because there are some jobs that humans don’t want AI to take over. He writes, “People are looking at the economy as it exists and asking which tasks A.I. can do; they should be asking which jobs people won’t want A.I. doing, or which services A.I. will make us want more of.” Klein nevertheless hedges his bets. Like many others, he notes that AI is different than any previous technology and is penetrating society faster than any previous technology. He writes, “While I don’t believe full automation of the economy, or even mass unemployment, is likely, I don’t totally discount the possibility. A.I. is a different kind of technology than what has come before.”

Concluding Thoughts

Journalist John Burn-Murdoch observes, “History tells us that whether new technologies lead to falling, flat or even rising employment depends on a huge number of factors.”[13] When discussing the A.I., he believes we should be asking the question, “‘Can AI do this task?’ is a useful starting point for thinking about how it might impact employment.” He notes, however, that the answer to that question “is an ambiguous signal that forms only one part of a large and complex picture.” He explains, “Considering the other factors that can shape job growth, directly or indirectly, helps to explain why thus far those occupations that are most exposed to AI are as likely to have grown as to have shrunk.” Although there are good reasons for concern about how AI could affect the workforce, there is certainly no need to panic. I’m still optimistic that, in the long run, AI will be a job creator.

Footnotes

[1] Cris Tolomia, “China is trying to stop AI from becoming a layoff machine,” Quartz, 11 May 2026.

[2] Geoffrey Hinton, “AI Is the Next Industrial Revolution,” Time Magazine, 11 December 2025.

[3] Heather Barrett and Ryan Pendell, “72% of Top CHROs See AI Replacing Jobs — And Workers Aren't Ready,” Gallup, 21 August 2023.

[4] Faisal Hoque, “Stop calling it inevitable: The AI job crisis is being built, not born,” Fast Company, 2 March 2026.

[5] Chris Vallance, “Meta scientist Yann LeCun says AI won't destroy jobs forever,” BBC, 15 June 2023.

[6] Megan Cerullo, “AI will affect more than half of all U.S. jobs, analysis finds,” CBS News MoneyWatch, 7 April 2026.

[7] Emily Gaines-Buchler, “Will artificial intelligence make human workers obsolete?” John Hopkins University Hub, 23 February 2026.

[8] CJ Haddad, “Hassett says AI isn't costing anybody their job right now — but tech layoffs keep coming,” CNBC, 11 May 2026.

[9] Nat Rubio-Licht, “The AI layoff panic is outrunning the data,” The Deep View, 11 May 2026.

[10] Andrew Ng, “There will be no AI jobpocalypse.” Machine Learning Times, 11 May 2026.

[11] Greg Ip, “Tech Has Never Caused a Job Apocalypse. Don’t Bet on It Now.” The Wall Street Journal, 27 February 2026.

[12] Ezra Klein, “Why the A.I. Job Apocalypse (Probably) Won’t Happen,” The New York Times, 3 May 2026.

[13] John Burn-Murdoch, “What the AI ‘jobpocalypse’ narrative misses,” Financial Times, 25 April 2026.