"He likened the moment to February 2020, with the pandemic rapidly approaching U.S. shores and a widely unprepared American public. The essay has been viewed 85 million times on the social media platform. He wasn't alone. Citrini Research, the top finance Substack, posted a similar essay on Feb. 22, warning of a "global intelligence crisis" brought on by sudden advancements in AI."
"The highly speculative, but deeply resonant essay painted a doomsday scenario of a "human intelligence displacement spiral" where AI agents rapidly replace software engineers, financial advisors, and middle management. At its core was the concept of a "ghost GDP"-economic output that benefits the owners of computing power but never circulates through the human consumer economy."
"In this scenario, stripped of high-paying salaries, prime borrowers default and tank the $13 trillion residential mortgage market, unemployment spikes above 10%, the stock market corrects down 38%, and the economy collapses into a deflationary spiral. Unusually for a work of speculative fiction, the market reacted to the piece, showing that the "AI scare" trade was real, at least in readers' minds."
AI executives and financial analysts have published viral essays warning of imminent job displacement for white-collar workers, comparing the moment to the early pandemic period. These warnings describe a scenario where AI rapidly replaces software engineers, financial advisors, and managers, creating a "ghost GDP" that benefits only computing power owners. This hypothetical collapse would strip workers of high-paying salaries, trigger mortgage defaults, spike unemployment above 10%, and cause a 38% stock market correction. The market reacted significantly to these speculative predictions, with the Dow Jones dropping over 800 points and software stocks declining sharply. Major tech leaders like Jack Dorsey subsequently announced massive workforce reductions, validating concerns about AI-driven employment disruption.
#ai-job-displacement #economic-crisis-scenario #white-collar-employment #market-volatility #technology-disruption
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