The Future of Work: AI Advancements and the Looming Threat to Skilled Jobs
While most of the country is walking on eggshells in anticipation of the upcoming elections in two weeks, reassured by reports of a stabilizing labor market and optimistic IMF predictions forecasting strength in the U.S. economy, there is an undeniable unease brewing in the tech world. For those paying attention, it’s hard to ignore the silent disruption that AI platforms are introducing, casting doubt on the future safety of millions of jobs across various industries.
Today, the AI platform Claude, similar to ChatGPT, released a video showcasing its latest capabilities: an AI agent that can take control of a computer and create a website from a single prompt. While fixing errors may still require a few follow-up prompts by a human, the implications are staggering. The question must be asked: as AI learns from its mistakes and grows at an uncontrollable speed, how much longer will human input be needed to create websites, apps, or even code? These are jobs that are currently essential for millions of workers around the globe.
Fifteen years ago, when I first learned to build websites in college, mastering HTML and CSS felt like a significant achievement—a hard-earned skill that could lead to a stable career. But never in my life would I have imagined that, in my lifetime, technology would emerge, available for $20/month, capable of replicating that very skill with minimal human involvement. As AI advances at breakneck speed, particularly over the last 12 months, it seems unlikely that employers will continue to pay high salaries to web developers and designers for tasks that AI could soon accomplish in minutes. In fact, it raises the uncomfortable question: will these roles even exist in 10 to 20 years?
Some might argue that AI can help streamline workflows and enhance human productivity, but we must face the harsh reality—many jobs could become redundant. As Claude and other AI tools improve, what’s stopping companies from eliminating the need for web developers entirely? A business could simply input a prompt describing how they want their website to look, and the AI would do the rest. It’s not hard to imagine a future where companies rely on AI to manage bugs, customize designs, and update content at a fraction of the cost. Where does that leave the people whose livelihoods depend on these skills?
This isn’t a hypothetical concern. We’ve already seen AI’s potential to reduce the need for human labor in other creative fields. The rise of AI-generated commercials is one recent example—requiring just one person to input text into a computer, rather than a team of professionals to write, film, and edit content.
The trend is clear: as AI becomes more powerful and cost-effective, fewer workers will be needed to perform tasks that once required dozens of skilled professionals.
As these technologies emerge with little to no regulation in place, how do we ensure that the skills we’ve gained—sometimes over decades—won’t be rendered obsolete? What protections exist for workers in industries where AI can replicate and improve upon their work? How do we adapt to a world where a machine can do in seconds what once took hours or days?
These are not just questions for tech workers—they are questions for society as a whole. As AI continues to evolve, we must seriously consider what our roles as workers will be in the future. If we do not act now, if we do not create policies and safeguards to protect the value of human labor, we may soon find ourselves asking: what are we worth when machines can do it all?
What do you think? Is this the future we want, or is there a way to balance technological advancement with the preservation of human work? The time to have these conversations is now—before the disruption becomes irreversible.
Some comments on the YouTube video above raised concerns from some people including myself.
My comment was the following: “The beginning of the end of all desk jobs, thanks to unregulated AI.”
Comments from other users were the following:
OMG this changes the game on another level
This video will be a historic moment in the human history!
If I'm understanding the Computer Use capability correctly - being able to navigate UIs, interact with software, and chain together complex sequences of actions - you guys have single handedly killed the entire automated software testing industry.
goodbye work-from-homers, your days are numbered
Can't wait till the days the average person will be too dumb to use a computer and have to pay a $20/mo subscription to have an AI use it for them
This is an agent... this is crazy... this technology is going so fast I love it but I am perplex...
I enjoyed having a job while it lasted.
It was a pleasure working with you all! Back to the fields we go!
