AI’s ‘magical’ future: A productivity boom for CEOs, a pink slip for you?

Many often frame AI’s rapid ascent as “magical” or “transformative,” as it promises a surge in productivity unlike anything we’ve seen.

However, as Manisha Pande highlights in her conversation with economist and journalist Vivek Kaul, this optimism masks deeply uncomfortable questions about the future of labour. This conversation builds on Kaul’s recent two-part series for Newslaundry – the first of which is free to read, while the second remains exclusive to our subscribers.

The core of the anxiety lies in the displacement of workers. Kaul highlights that “most technologies in their first phase tend to destroy jobs,” but then they create new ones, though not for the “same people who are losing their jobs.”  

Adding to this uncertainty, Kaul admits: “One thing that I'm reasonably sure of is that jobs will start getting destroyed, but whether jobs will be created in parallel, I don't know.” For a generation, the mandate to “reskill” feels like a hollow directive without a clear roadmap. 

The economic ripple effect is equally daunting. If AI reduces the need for human labour to maximise corporate profit, the broader ecosystem suffers. As Kaul points out, “One man's spending is another man's income, so if AI destroys jobs, it starts having an impact on everything.” If people lose jobs, the tax base shrinks, and consumer spending evaporates.

Yet, we shouldn't reach grand conclusions prematurely. As Kaul notes, “In the short term, we typically tend to overestimate the impact of a new technology, and in the long term, we tend to typically underestimate it.”

Ultimately, Big Tech CEOs cannot gatekeep this discourse. Philosophers, historians, and economists must lead, as AI’s impact transcends technology to become societal.

Watch this interview. 

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