How Long Before You Lose Your Job to AI?

AI is here, and it’s like a forest fire that generates a little smoke at first but accelerates into intense firenados as it meets thick brush forest aided by higher winds and dry hot air. AI feeds on a high-cost, low-productivity environment which becomes fuel for the artificial intelligence juggernaut.

We have to think about the economic climate and when companies will race to integrate AI and robotics. Because when it dominates business, government and industry, there is the danger of us becoming disenfranchised. One expert points out that human-input can become a second-class element. In fact, many of the major tech companies insist on their AI algorithms and systems and leave little room for “slow humans” who can’t comprehend or process information as AI can. What separates each of us from endless unemployment is relevance.

Which is why AI training and featuring talent and expertise is so important. With the training, we’re able to use the system to elevate our skills, experience, and talent, thus we remain relevant.

This Economic Recovery Will Provide a Short Term Respite (US only)

The economic recovery is on and we should see GDP growth and higher profits for stocks investors, even small business profitability when interest rates fall. But that won’t stop the AI unemployment wave. It’s underway now, and by 2030, we’ll all feel it personally. And switching over to AI-resistant roles might not save you. Because this is where most are headed. It will get crowded.

To say AI is invading news coverage, entertainment, ecommerce and other business areas is an understatement.  Already, much of what you read is researched and composed by AI LLM GPTs.  In fact, with incredible cost savings promised (99% in some areas) most CEOs, business owners and investors can’t wait to integrate it. It may be the monumental event in the history of capitalism ever, a godsend to companies that leverage it best.

Those companies who delay or won’t adopt AI await an unpleasant fate.  The productivity and profit advantage so far is hard to ignore.  Companies are discovering benefits they didn’t anticipate.  A few people will make a lot of money, well beyond Elon Musk.  But where will we earn a salary?  AI unemployment is a complex topic, but in this post, we view some of the fundamentals of people, income, freedom, autonomy, and how they’re impacted.

It’s Too Late: I’ve Already Been Eliminated

You may already be unemployed due to AI/automation, or AI/automation imported from another country. Or you may have benefited from the change with higher demand for your services and a higher salary. Congratulations!  AI skills are in demand.  While experts advise building AI skills, will those skills matter as AI learns and replicates workers’ creativity and unique problem-solving skills?  Elon Musk says there is nothing robots can’t do.

While the threat is growing, AI can be used by skilled talent to produce outstanding work quality. Read this post on how talent can leverage AI to beat pure AI companies. It applies to any company not just in the travel sector.

Warnings from Experts

Andy Jassie, CEO of Amazon and Entrepreneur Andrew Yang recently sounded out about the risks ahead for the economy and employment for people in Canada, USA, UK, Germany, France, and Australia.

Andrew Yang spoke to company leaders and relayed his meetings and insights in a CNBC interview with Becky Quick and Joe Kernen.  He pointed out that truck driver is the most common job title today a group scheduled for replacement by automated drivers.  Apply this to all job types and see it from the eyes of a 20-year-old grad looking for a job and you see the problem clearly.  Marketers, copywriters, computer programmers, data analysts, and accountants are a few of the notable occupations already hit. The occupation names will expand quickly by 2030 which is 4.5 years away.

Dario Amodei — CEO of Anthropic, one of the world’s most powerful creators of artificial intelligence warned AI companies and government to stop “sugar-coating” what’s coming to the job market and economy. Experts warn that the speed of AI adoption and how companies will choose worker replacement rather than AI augmentation, will turn this into a crisis.

Some experts feel a society of unemployed people could work out, however, who would build homes, cars, and produce clothing and food for these people with no money? I don’t think that the experts have thought this through thoroughly. When you can stick your whole head through the whole in someone’s theory, it should sound alarms.

Could it Create a Stock Market Crash?

A stock market crash might occur when unemployment rises and consumer spending plummets. AI is super efficient which means it will be a winner-take-all all environment, so fewer companies will exist.

Consider that consumers have already cut back on spending, giving us a taste of the calamity that might happen. There might not be any way governments can stimulate their economies, aside from printing money, when they’re already in severe debt.

AI technology is already profitable and is improving in leaps and bounds.  If you’ve used AI tools such as Google Gemini or ChatGPT, you likely realize it can do anything including copy the capabilities of a human.  Consider an AI travel agency for instance where a traveler can book a full trip with flight, hotel, transportation, entertainment and daily itineraries without contacting a travel advisor.

Sure, there’s talk about AI not being able to equal the qualities, skills and capability of skilled humans. But they’re working on that right now.  It might only be Governments holding back implementation of AI and automation due to an expected loss of jobs and tax revenue for the government.

Bls.gov forecasted job growth in these areas in the graphic below. Yet tech companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft are laying off coders and similar roles. AI can do their jobs more efficiently and these companies can’t resist the cost reduction.

With massive numbers of new unemployed workers, who will pay for their social benefits and AI training so they can offer added value?  It’s generally winner-take-all all with AI, which might tell us why Trump is insistent on having the US control AI and building a strong American military.

Yang is cautioning us that the rise of AI unemployment and all it brings is here and governments are not ready at all. AI, even with all its benefits, could send a negative financial shockwave for potential stock market crashes as AI wipes out companies, jobs and industries who didn’t move to AI fast enough.

Andy Jassy says AI is going to be a big issue, and it’s reported that Amazon has already laid off 27,000 employees due to automation.  AI and robot automation together means it can replace the full workflows of a human worker. And robotics isn’t just a walking, talking version of a human. It’s basically any machine that is programmable.

400 to 800 Million Jobs Losses Forecast by 2030

A recent study by McKinsey Global Institute predicted that automation might reduce the global workforce by 400 and 800 million jobs by 2030. That’s 4.5 years from now. AI will impact 60% of jobs, and entry-level jobs may be eliminated almost entirely. Who will invest in human talent if their working life is so short and it costs so much to keep them trained? Why would workers invest in their own careers?

Politicians don’t have any answers for this and they’re not commenting on the matter publicly. So far, the media is not pressing them on what could be the next big crisis that creates an economic crash, housing market crash and stock market crash. It could come swiftly with consumers on the hook for big debts (i.e., mortgages), with government debt at dizzying heights, and 401k’s rendered worthless.

Wall Street certainly sees the trend. They expect financial/investment companies to replace 200,000 roles with AI in the next 3 to 5 years (Bloomberg)

• Globally, 20 million manufacturing jobs could be replaced by automated tools by 2030 (PatentPC)
• 75% of CEOs think generative AI will significantly change their business within the next three years (PwC)
• 40% of companies that are adopting AI are automating rather than augmenting human work (CNN)
• 13.7% of US workers report having lost their job to a robot (Socius)
• Employers think 34% of tasks will be fully automated by 2030 (WEF)

Jassy adds in speaking with Jim Cramer on Mad Money, that workers will find AI automation making their jobs more interesting. However, with unemployment happening not long after, they might cease to be fascinated with AI.

The stats and insights about the downside of AI are just arriving this year, so hang tight while more flood the airwaves. The expected economic surge in H2, 2025 might still be on, but is the swan song of economies before their black swan event?

See more on AI travel agencies and how traditional agencies might actually beat them with great strategy. If your travel agency is invisible now, it could be worse next year if you neglect your SEO and content marketing efforts.

Find out more about creative but efficient travel marketing to help you beat AI travel agencies.