"Addressing the widespread concern that AI will 'replace millions of jobs and increase unemployment by an equivalent amount,' a large team of Morgan Stanley analysts pointed directly to history. Over the past 150 years, sweeping technological shifts-from electrification and the tractor to the computer and the internet-have fundamentally altered the labor force, but they 'did not replace labor'."
"Tech titans and stock market investors are increasingly unified in their forecast that artificial intelligence will permanently eliminate millions of white-collar jobs and render traditional employment obsolete. Software and services stocks have taken a beating, with software multiples pulling back by roughly 33% since late 2025 as investors fret over AI's potential to automate vast swaths of knowledge work."
"Elon Musk predicted that AI and humanoid robots will make work completely 'optional' within the next 10 to 20 years, ushering in a post-scarcity economy where money itself becomes irrelevant. He joins a growing chorus of tech executives issuing stark warnings about human obsolescence; OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently cautioned that superintelligence could soon outperform even top corporate executives."
Tech leaders predict AI will eliminate millions of white-collar jobs and make employment optional within 10-20 years, causing software stock valuations to decline 33% since late 2025. Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and other executives warn of human obsolescence and superintelligence surpassing corporate leaders. However, Morgan Stanley's cross-asset research provides historical perspective: over 150 years of technological transformation—from electrification to computers to the internet—fundamentally changed labor markets without permanently replacing workers. Past innovations like spreadsheets automated tasks but created new employment opportunities. Economists question the apocalyptic timeline, suggesting tech executives may exaggerate AI's disruptive impact to justify valuations.
#ai-job-displacement #technological-disruption #labor-market-transformation #tech-industry-predictions #historical-economic-transitions
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]