AI Isn’t Taking Your Job—Here’s What’s Really Happening

Concerns about AI replacing human workers have been simmering, but experts say the reality is more nuanced. Companies are using AI to automate parts of jobs rather than entire positions.

AI is automating tasks, not entire roles. According to McKinsey, AI is technically capable of automating 57% of work-related activities, but that percentage is spread across pieces and parts of various jobs. As Alexis Krivkovich, a senior partner at McKinsey, explains, “It’s very few jobs that are actually entirely automated away by the current AI and robotics technology.”

Productivity gains without mass layoffs. Nitin Seth, cofounder of Incedo, says his company helps clients boost productivity by 20% to 25% using AI without reducing staff at the same scale. “You can’t take one quarter of Lisa, one quarter of Jessica, one quarter of Nitin and one quarter of somebody else and make it one person,” he notes.

Tech industry feels the shift most. Software engineers are increasingly using AI to write code, but their jobs involve much more than coding—reviewing code, designing systems, troubleshooting, and deciding what to build. Boris Cherny from Anthropic predicts the term “software engineer” may evolve into “builder” as coding becomes a smaller part of the role.

Skills are shifting, not disappearing. Sujata Sridharan, a software engineer, says AI has changed the required skills: “Are you able to recognize what is the right code quality? Are you able to problem solve?” The execution now involves a mix of writing code and prompting AI.

Job losses are real but not wholesale. AI has been cited in more than 49,000 job cuts so far this year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Companies like Block and Coinbase have reduced staff because AI enables smaller teams to do more. However, Dan Priest from PwC notes that mass layoffs aren’t happening at most companies, and whole job categories aren’t currently at risk.

The future is uncertain. As AI models evolve and take on more office tasks—like Anthropic’s new AI agents for financial work—the landscape will keep changing. As Umesh Ramakrishnan of Kingsley Gate puts it, “It starts at the bottom, and it keeps going up. And I don’t know where it stops.”