AI AND THE JOBS

The biggest and most persistent lie: that AI was going to take the jobs currently held by humans. This claim was made as soon as AI arrived on the public stage, then repeated endlessly by every AI‑company executive, their partners, and their acolytes. They told us this over and over in different ways and in different contexts, while remaining conveniently vague on the details. The Palme d’Or for this shameful performance goes to Anthropic’s CEO and his infamous list.

The list of 31 jobs

On paper, it was a list of jobs that AI could supposedly perform immediately and better than humans. In reality, it was a list of roles whose holders understand exactly how AI can cause a company to fail. At the start of 2026, he published a list of 31 professions in which AI would be more effective than humans. Unsurprisingly, most of these roles involve identifying the limits and shortcomings of AI systems in the tasks assigned to them. His reasoning was simple: If the company succeeds, it’s thanks to AI. If the company sinks—which is far more likely—no one will realise it’s AI’s fault. The people who could have observed and understood the failures would no longer be employed. Unfortunately for him, the real world of business is not the same as the virtual world, where everything can be fixed in seconds with a few clicks. Companies did not follow these instructions and did not fire their employees to replace them with AI. A few companies tried the experiment on a small scale—a kind of pilot test.

What happened next

Replacing human employees with AI was a disaster. Every AI system that took over human roles in the workplace produced chaos. Not just small mistakes, but large‑scale failures. The list of breakdowns is long and touches every domain where AI was involved. To patch the holes and repair the damage, the fired employees had to be urgently rehired. Naturally, those who returned demanded higher salaries and better benefits. The result: losses across the board—financial losses, market share losses, reputational damage, everything. And to hammer the final nail into the coffin of the thesis “AI takes human jobs,” a major deception was exposed at almost the same moment.

The deception

“Replacing humans with AI” served as a convenient pretext for massive layoffs—layoffs made necessary mainly by management errors. Several large companies, mostly American, took advantage of the debate sparked by the list to carry out large‑scale job cuts. They justified them by claiming that AI would replace humans in the affected roles. Very quickly, it became obvious that these layoffs had entirely different causes: oversized workforces, market losses, lack of profitability, and so on. In short, a whole palette of mistakes—classic management failures. The stated reason was just a façade, a way to hide the errors of executives and their incompetent directors. We even published a sarcastic post on LinkedIn saying that AI is the job‑saver of CEOs who make mistakes leading to layoffs. Each of them only has to justify the cuts by claiming that AI will replace humans in those roles. And if they keep making mistakes, no problem: the culprit is already chosen. It’s the remaining employees, who supposedly don’t know how to work properly with AI.

Consequences

The results of the “31‑job experiment” and the revelation of the deception led to the suspension of the thesis “AI will replace humans at work.” These two projects were supposed to lead to massive replacement of humans by AI in the workplace. That would have generated huge profits for AI companies, perhaps even allowing them to find the Holy Grail: profitability (since they currently record colossal losses). Unfortunately for them, the result was exactly the opposite: the idea that AI would replace humans at work became ridiculous. It is now proven that replacing a human with an AI in a company is like juggling with a live grenade. The thesis that AI would replace humans at work has taken a massive hit and is almost gone from public debate. As of July 2026, the topic has been relegated to the category: “Yes, it will certainly happen, but at an undetermined point in the future—and definitely not soon.” This does not mean the debate is closed. AI companies and their partners will restart the machine with force and intensity as soon as this embarrassing fiasco fades from memory.

The future belongs to AI

AI is an irreversible technological advance. Eventually, it will replace humans in the tasks they perform today, giving them the jobs of tomorrow. In short, sooner or later, AI will take today’s roles and functions. But not in the way AI‑company executives claim. Over time, more and more tasks will be delegated to AI, and more and more positions will be occupied by it. However, to avoid consequences ranging from minor incidents to catastrophes, every AI system in a company will need tight human supervision. It will need to be trained for the task, monitored, and controlled. Its work will need to be checked to ensure it meets the requirements, is of good quality, and contains no “hallucinations.” In conclusion, AI in the workplace will require a growing number of employees who know how to work with it. That will be the human job of tomorrow.

The jobs of tomorrow in the age of AI

These jobs fall mainly into two categories: working with AI and working on AI. They will exist regardless of the labels used. The first category includes all roles related to using AI within a company or organisation—training it, supervising it, ensuring quality, and so on.

The second category includes all roles related to creating, developing, updating, and improving AI. It also includes all jobs related to AI “maintenance” in every aspect, including cybersecurity. Bonus: new activities will certainly emerge as AI becomes integrated into our daily lives, both private and professional. These activities will bring many new jobs.

Conclusion: the number of jobs

At the company level, the total number of jobs may decrease. However, the remaining jobs will require more highly qualified employees. And if we add the need to strengthen the accounting‑finance (“budgets”) department to monitor the “AI budget”—without which it could explode and push the company from profit to loss—it is very likely that we will reach a kind of equilibrium. The same applies to society as a whole: the number of jobs may decrease, but those that remain will require more qualified workers. Considering the new jobs generated by the new activities mentioned above, it is possible to reach a similar equilibrium at the societal level. Excerpt from the article “AI: Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Idiocy.”