Don’t Be the Horse 🐴 When Cars Are Coming: Riding the AI Revolution
You’ve heard it a thousand times: “AI is coming for our jobs.”
Correction: it’s not coming. It’s here.
And the early data is no longer a vibe – it’s measurable.
Disruption Is Real – Young Workers Are Feeling It First
A fresh Stanford analysis using millions of U.S. payroll records (ADP) found a 13% relative employment decline for 22–25-year-olds in the most AI-exposed occupations (think software dev, customer service) from late-2022 to mid-2025. Older workers in the same jobs didn’t see the same hit. Stanford Digital Economy Lab
Mainstream coverage mirrors the finding: Wired summarized Stanford’s result and broader implications for early-career roles, and the San Francisco Chronicle highlighted the 13% drop specifically for Gen Z in AI-exposed jobs.
Zoom out and the macro picture is churn, not collapse. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2023 projects, by 2027, 69M jobs created and 83M jobs eliminated – a net −14M globally (≈2%). Translation: work shifts, and fast.
Opportunity Isn’t Dead – It Moved (Bring Your Map)
- New job families are showing up: roles like AI governance lead, AI ethics & privacy specialist, agentic-AI engineer, non-human security ops – yes, that last one’s real – are breaking into org charts.
- Tech demand remains strong at the occupational level: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 15% growth for software developers/QA/testers from 2024–2034, much faster than average.
- AI’s being bolted onto traditional services: investors are literally buying “old-school” service businesses and rebuilding them with AI (healthcare, support, finance)—that’s where many new opportunities materialize.
Bottom line: jobs aren’t vanishing – they’re changing address.
Where AI Can’t Compete: The Human Edge
AI can simulate warmth. It cannot feel it. That opens lanes where humans keep the lead:
1) Emotional Labor Gains Value
Roles heavy on empathy, judgment, and complex interaction (care, education, coaching) sit lower on the automation target list; OECD consistently flags social/interactive skill bundles as more resilient than routine, automatable tasks.
2) Hybrid Human+AI Roles
Think coaches who use AI to track, then you deliver the encouragement.
Health navigators using AI diagnostics, you deliver comfort.
Customer success with AI triage, you make it feel like help.
3) Leadership & Trust Become Premium
70% of employee engagement swings on the manager – coaching, clarity, care. That’s not a prompt; that’s a person.
4) Creative Arts & Storytelling
People crave meaning and voice. Tools can draft; you make it resonate.
Ignoring AI Isn’t Neutral – It’s Expensive
When cars showed up, horses didn’t “negotiate” with progress. Entire industries exploded around the new thing. Same dynamic now: jobs will shift to where AI is a multiplier, and those who refuse to adapt end up watching the freeway. (If you need a data-driven forecast, see WEF’s −14M net by 2027 and reskilling guidance.)
Your Move: Horse or Driver?
Two choices – your consequences:
- Lean in. Upskill. Partner with AI.
- Look away. Wait to be replaced.
Either way, you own the outcome.
—Joe Jackson
Summary at a Glance
| Insight | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Entry-level disruption is measurable | Early-career (22–25) workers in AI-exposed roles saw a 13% relative employment decline since late-2022. Stanford Digital Economy Lab |
| Net global churn, not pure collapse | By 2027: 69M jobs created, 83M eliminated → net −14M (≈2%). Plan for transitions. World Economic Forum |
| Tech roles still grow overall | Software developers/QA/testers +15% (2024–34) – “much faster than average.” Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| Human skills are the moat | Social/interactive, non-routine skills are more resilient than routine tasks. OECD |
| New AI-era titles are emerging | AI governance, ethics/privacy, agentic-AI engineering, non-human SecOps… Watch these lanes. signalfire.com |
| Capital is rewiring services with AI | Investors are acquiring traditional services and layering AI for scale… Opportunity migrates there. Financial Times |
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