Right now, you can think of AI as a decently functioning intern or assistant with moderate skills.
But it's going to get better. If AI gets to human-level intelligence, it won't be limited to entry-level jobs.
At that point, what would be left for humans to do? Will the global workforce suffer massive layoffs? How will our economy function?
This sort of thinking can lead to sleepless nights, worrying about your own business or career – let alone thoughts about what kind of future your children and grandchildren will grow up in.
Take a deep breath.
First, remember that every major new technology has raised fears that efficiency gains would cause mass unemployment.
In 1900, 40% of the U.S. population worked in agriculture as farmers. With technological advancements over the years, that number has dropped to less than 2%.
This has been an undeniably good thing for humanity. We are more productive. Over generations, the farmers moved into other, higher-productivity jobs. Lives were disrupted, but on a macro scale, it was a net positive.
For a smaller-scale example, consider what happened when automated teller machines ("ATMs") started showing up all over the country in the 1990s.
At the time, U.S. banks employed nearly a quarter of a million tellers, and it looked like they'd be replaced by machines.
But instead, the number of bank tellers increased over the next two decades. Look at this chart that author James Bessen included in his 2015 book Learning by Doing: The Real Connection Between Innovation, Wages, and Wealth...
Tellers no longer needed to spend as much time counting out a stack of $20 bills. Instead, they helped more with higher-level issues like opening accounts and selling new products.
From the business perspective, this turned tellers from a cost center to a revenue driver. Banks invested in more tellers rather than fewer.
Bessen also points out that the same thing happened with weavers, cashiers, and paralegals when technology took over parts of their jobs. Technology actually created more jobs for people in those roles.
Improved technology has always automated away certain jobs. But if machines uniformly made human labor worthless, then the share of income going to capital would increase and that going to labor would decrease.
Instead, labor's share of income has consistently been around 55% to 65% all the way back to the 1700s.
Sometimes you have to adjust data to include benefits or other changes, but it's about the same.
As technology makes us more productive... we find new jobs for people.
While resources are limited, human wants are not.
We will always want something more than what we have. Whether it's for comfort, status, or entertainment, humans can always think of a new thing to consume.
If the cost of producing anything goes down due to AI agents, our first thought is to consume more of it.
When the printing press dramatically lowered the cost of books, the bookmaking industry didn't dry up... It exploded. The literacy rate in Europe doubled in the centuries following the invention. Books got so cheap that people went and learned to read just to take advantage.
More recently, high-quality digital video has made production much cheaper than working with physical film and cameras. Movie budgets and the number of movies rose as people wanted to consume more content, and the cash got spent on special effects and bigger productions.
Even if we're not consuming more of the same, we'll find new things to want and new roles for people. We could speculate as to what those things may be... but the truth is that it's entirely unpredictable.
Think about how many 35-year-olds are doing a job that likely didn't exist when they were children...
None of their high school guidance counselors could have suggested they work toward becoming a social media manager or take a job in e-commerce logistics. And a quarter-century ago, no one's moonshot dream was to become a YouTube star or an influencer.
Things change.
And this doesn't just apply to the workforce, either – it has widespread implications for investing.
In today's rapidly changing world, you need to get ahead of technological advances in AI if you want to profit from massive winners in the market.
Last week, two legendary investors shared how you can do exactly this...
As they explained, a new ultrafast "super chip" is set to upend the markets, the economy, and your portfolio for decades to come. But if you position yourself correctly and stake some money in the companies that will benefit most from this innovation, you could see gains of up to 1,000%.
Get all the details here before this breakthrough technology goes public on June 2.
What We're Reading...
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Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
May 28, 2025
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