More than 50,000 tech workers have lost their jobs so far this year. When asked why, most will say the same thing: artificial intelligence.
Not because AI woke up and destroyed their workplaces, but because it took a lot of their burdens. And AI does not draw income.
So far this year, more than 50,000 tech workers have lost their jobs, and employers say AI tools are making it easier to downsize.
While the layoffs began last year, companies have accelerated the process by 2026 by relying on AI to replace employees in roles such as software testing and customer service, according to employers.
This trend shows no signs of abating as companies restructure their operations to include AI, which can perform tasks without rest or complaint.
There is something else in this story. At least one engineer once told me, “I helped train the AI that replaced me.”
Is it funny? Yes. According to the company's management, it is something else: the inevitable march of progress.
This is not one thing. Many large technology companies are embracing automation.
Item No. 1 that companies are trying to use AI, and using AI to automate tasks… [Companies are] literally looking at where they can replace humans with AI models.
Then there are people who don't think this is a big deal. Like some economists, they say this is just another industrial revolution, only this time it's happening much faster and involving more computers.
But those new jobs require very different skills, making it difficult for employers and professors to tell laid-off workers they need to “retrain”.
I've talked to a few tech workers this week and they feel both excited and scared about AI. Here's one engineer: “What AI can do is amazing. But what's scary is how quickly it's making us redundant.”
The word that comes out there is “unnecessary.” For a long time, technical performance was considered a certainty. Now it doesn't look like that at all.
Which brings us to the obvious question: So what?
It's too soon to tell. For now, we are left with a sense of wonder mixed with uneasiness. AI is not a bully, but it disrupts many people's lives.
Maybe the problem isn't that machines are taking over our jobs. Maybe the problem is that we weren't ready for how quickly they would do it.
If this is the beginning of a long story, that's scary. But it's also fun.
Buckle up.
