Those who are cut off by AI will not disappear; they will become the creators of the next round of the economy

Author: WhiteForest
Everyone is asking the wrong question. The question is not "Will I be unemployed?" but rather: Where do the unemployed go?

AI does not replace people; it replaces those parts of people that can already be standardized, replicated, and automated.

Think about it, humans originally evolved from monkeys.

Stone tools, writing, gunpowder, steam engines, electricity, computers. Each tool revolution has devalued a batch of old skills, caused a batch of old jobs to disappear, and led to the collapse of a batch of old orders. Humanity did not disappear. Humanity reorganized.

AI follows the same pattern, but runs faster.

China experienced a larger wave of layoffs 30 years ago

Too many white-collar jobs are essentially about information handling, rule application, and localized optimization. Once the model is smart enough, these positions will definitely be repriced. This is not the end of the world; it is a clearing out.

Thirty years ago, China experienced a more intense version. State-owned enterprise reforms led to massive layoffs. At that time, it seemed like the end for tens of millions of people from that generation. Looking back, it was not people who disappeared, but old positions. The new private economy, new companies, and new jobs all emerged from that rupture. A large proportion of China's listed companies 15 years ago were actually inherited assets from state-owned enterprise reforms.

Engineers will be the first to be impacted, and will also recover first

They understand abstraction best, understand systems best, and are closest to new productivity. When engineers are laid off, it usually indicates that the part of their skills they previously sold has matured enough to be packaged and automated. This does not negate their value; it is proof of the maturity of their previous output.

However, this group of people, like the laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises 30 years ago, are precisely the smartest people of this era. Once they enter the free market, the creativity they bring is immeasurable.

But most people overlook a more important point: AI does not just cut jobs; it is rewriting the form of companies.

Most companies do not need so many talents because of problems. Rather, it is because the costs of communication, coordination, and execution are too high, so they can only keep adding people, layers, and processes.

AI is turning these organizational costs into software.

Companies will become smaller. Tasks that previously required 50 people will now be done by 5. Tasks that used to require a team can now be accomplished by a strong individual with the right tools.

The Revenge of Creators

The past game rewarded those who were good at managing large teams, coordinating hierarchies, and expanding organizations. This is why we see HR becoming C-level executives or even CEOs. Doing business is less important than managing people; many of the best creators did not lose due to judgment, product, or technology, but because they could not manage an increasingly bureaucratic organization.

AI weakens this shortcoming. In the next cycle, more small and strong companies will emerge. More people who "are not good at management but are extremely good at creation" will be repriced. They did not lose to the market in the past; they lost to the organization. After AI lightens the organization, these people can finally trade directly with the world.

The real question is not unemployment, but how you define yourself

After old positions disappear, will you be someone waiting for the system to take you in, or someone who uses new tools to reorganize production?

AI will not eliminate everyone equally. It accelerates differentiation. Some will lose their jobs, some will lose their illusions, and some will leverage this reorganization to make a leap.

My judgment:

AI is not cutting off a group of people; it is cutting off an entire generation's belief in stable career paths. Those who are laid off first will not disappear. Some of them will be the first to reorganize themselves, transforming from employees of the old system into creators of the next economic cycle.

In every productivity revolution, it is not people who are eliminated, but those who refuse to rewrite themselves.

Those who first accept reality and begin to create a new world will prevail.