"AI washing has gained traction as emerging data on the tech's impact on the labor market tells a muddied, inconclusive story about how the technology is or will destroy human jobs-or if it has yet to touch them. A study published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, for example, found that of thousands of surveyed C-suite executives across the U.S., UK, Germany and Australia, nearly 90% said AI had no impact on workplace employment over the last three years following the late-2022 release of ChatGPT."
"However, prominent tech leaders like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have warned of a white-collar bloodbath of AI potentially wiping out 50% of entry-level office jobs. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski suggested this week the buy-now, pay-later firm would reduce its 3,000-person workforce by one-third by 2030 in part because of the acceleration of AI. Around 40% of employees expect to follow Siemiatkowski's lead in culling staff down the line as a result of AI, according to the 2025 World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report."
"I don't know what the exact percentage is, but there's some AI washing where people are blaming AI for layoffs that they would otherwise do, and then there's some real displacement by AI of different kinds of jobs,"
Some companies are engaging in 'AI washing' by attributing workforce reductions to AI that would have occurred otherwise. Emerging data on AI's labor-market effects is mixed and inconclusive, with many executives reporting no employment impact since late-2022. Other leaders warn of substantial white-collar job losses, and some firms plan significant headcount reductions partly because of AI. Surveys and reports indicate sizeable portions of the workforce expect AI-driven staff cuts. Anticipated trends include both tangible displacement in certain roles and the creation of new jobs that complement AI, with broader effects becoming more palpable in coming years.
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