When machines report for duty

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Technology-driven job anxiety is not new. British textile workers feared mechanical loom technology in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Their fears were unfounded. The cotton gin eliminated hand-picking, but it created demand for textile machine operators.

However, artificial intelligence (AI) may be different in at least two critical ways. First, its speed. AI-powered assistant ChatGPT reached 100 million users in just two months after its launch, a number that took the telephone 75 years to reach. Second, its breadth. Unlike the steam engine, which replaced muscle, or the computer, which replaced clerical routine, AI is simultaneously threatening both white and blue-collar jobs, eg the radiologist reading an X-ray, the lawyer drafting a contract, the truck driver navigating a route, and the restaurant waiter taking food orders.