AI Digest
August 2025
AI & Jobs: The Rise of New Lean Enterprises, Digital Workforce, Changed Careers & Possible New Taxation
The USA has 4.3 Million software developers in 2024. The emergence of LLM and AI agents have gradually penetrated the job market, taking away human jobs. Software developers are no exception. In fact, several industry icons have stepped up and spoken, citing that certain jobs will be taken away. Recently, we have also witnessed massive layoffs by various tech companies. In total, about 78,000 jobs are lost globally as a result of AI taking over our jobs.
Who says what…
CEO of JP Morgan Jamie Dimon said that AI will take over jobs, especially in customer service. The CEO of Anthropic said that AI will eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that AI will result in a smaller corporate workforce at Amazon. Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta’s AI can replace mid-level coders in 2025. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that AI is writing 25% of Google software! CEO Satya Madella said that as much as 30% of Microsoft code is written by AI. Vista Equity Partners CEO Robert F. Smith issued a warning to finance professionals: adapt to AI or risk unemployment. In fact, Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton has warned that AI will disrupt the job market, with roles involving routine tasks most at risk. VC Vinod Khosla predicted that 80% of jobs will disappear by 2030. All these statements are alarming and worrisome.
Will AI impact our jobs?
AI is definitely going to impact a lot of jobs! Some jobs will be replaced by AI agents, robots, etc., while others remain unaffected by it. The billionaires and wealthy company CEOs are not going to stop or slow down the progress of AI, as they seek for new products and new sources of revenue and growth. Cutting down manpower costs and improve productivity seems like a very good business strategy.
What kind of jobs will be lost?
Ai coding agents will replace programmers/software developers. Ai radiology agent will replace radiologists. GenAi will replace some artists, composers, video directors, etc. Ai Learning tools can result in the reduction of educators. Robots will take over labor intensive jobs, like painting, logistics, factory workers, etc. As AI capabilities expand and improve, more jobs will be taken over by AI.
What kind of jobs will remain?
Jobs where human interactions are a must, such as nursing, surgeon doctors, movie actors, airline pilots, medical doctors, dentists, singers, politicians, lawyers, teachers, mechanics, etc. For teachers, we will see a reduction of teachers, as educational AI tools will result in the consolidation of teaching manpower, as schools try to cut headcount and be more cost efficient.
How can society deal with AI taking over jobs?
Jobs displacements as a result of AI can result in massive unemployment and manpower reduction.
1. People who lost their jobs due to AI have to seek alternative jobs, even if it means changing their professions, i.e., changing fields, from engineering to nursing, etc.
2. Transitional monetary support from the government can help those who are laid offs as they seek new jobs or transit to different careers.
3. Elon Musk’s view of having an Universal Basic Income (UBI) is still a far fetch idea since there are many questions remaining:
Who is going to pay for this UBI ?
How much UBI is considered enough?
Even with the provision of UBI, many people will still need a purpose in life to be fulfilling and meaningful.
Also, when workforce are downsized, there are huge implications on income taxes received by the government. While companies still remain and can function well with fewer workers, it is still unknown as to those who work will get how much more than those receiving UBI and those who do not work.
Emergence of "New Lean and Smart" Enterprises
By effectively trimming unnecessary manpower and replacing them with AI tools, agents and robots, companies will transform into lean and smart companies. Companies that employ 20,000 or more workers can now be potentially downsized to 10,000 or less. With fewer employees and higher productivity, companies can compete better in the market. Hence, we will see a trend where large scale employees’ companies will transform into lean or compact employees’ companies. While such companies can still function with fewer workers and be more efficient and productive, job losses and their impact on society are real.
Massive Unemployment can lead to social unrest, protests and riots.
People will suffer pain and anxiety, resulting in poor mental health. These layoffs made by various companies may not be coordinated, as each company makes decision on their own. Most companies will provide severance pay and help in alternative job hunting, but there is no guarantee of successful transition to another job. Abrupt changes in paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle will disrupt lives, with some unable to cope. Assistance is needed for those unable to seek new jobs or change careers.
Digital Workforce & New Taxes
Digital workforce are AI agents and robots. These entities are not humans and they are owned by the companies. Hence, such entities are not paid a salary and benefits, saving companies millions (if not billions) of dollars. Government will lose out in terms of income taxes and perhaps, in the future, government may tax companies based on AI agents and robots deployed to compensate for income taxes lost by not hiring humans. This is a new phenomenon and will take time to sink in and adjust.
Will the creation of new jobs by AI help?
While AI takes away existing jobs, they can also create some new jobs. The proportion of jobs taken away by AI (say A%) will likely to be much greater than new jobs created as a result of embracing AI (N%), i.e., N << A. In fact, the current trends have indicated this is the case. Hence, it is insufficient for these new AI jobs to replenish the jobs lost. Some of the new jobs created include:
1. AI Safety Architects
2. AI Business Strategy Leads
3. AI Governance Specialists
4. AI Agents Integration Engineers
5. AI Security Engineers
6. AI Model / LLM / Agents Engineers
7. AI Applications Engineers
8. AI Digital Workforce Managers
9. etc.
Society is not quite ready for a drastic change.
There are no programs to prepare the current workforce for this change and transition. Industries, however, are receptive to implementing these changes, primarily due to the advantages of labor cost cutting and higher productivity. To prepare our society for this drastic change, the SAFE AI Foundation proposes:
1. Company leaders to start preparing advance messaging efforts to inform affected workers and aid them in the transition
2. State or federal programs to help workers affected by the job layoffs (as a result of AI) and transit them to alternative jobs
3. Current workers to stay alert and be educated about market trends and CEOs inclinations, so that they themselves can make alternative plans
4. Workers affected by the layoffs should be mentally prepared to change their professions and careers.
5. For recent graduates who joined the workforce, do not take on too much debt since the market is volatile and being retrenched will result in great financial difficulties
The bottom line is that no one should be caught off guarded. The worker him/herself must be as resilient and dynamic as the market. The SAFE AI Foundation aims to communicate, inform and warn the public well ahead of these possible drastic changes.
Summing up.....
In summary, a new era is emerging from the horizon, where companies no longer have to employ a large number of workers and where AI digital workforce will have a place “working” in companies, without pay and benefits. This new form of "lean and smart" companies will evolve and many human workers will have to adjust, adapt and change their careers. A new form of taxation may have to evolve as a result of the absence of income tax contributions from human workers. A new tax will likely be introduced and imposed on corporations that utilize digital workforce (AI agents, etc).
What a brand new world this is going to be!
REFERENCES
[1] Layoffs due to AI Begin...: .... https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ1PSAmypbe/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
[2] Warning by Vista Equity Partners CEO Robert F. Smith: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLAm6rhMqbI/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
[3] Hinton’s view on AI and Jobs: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLBQLFWzHyR/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
[4] Washington’s Post - AI is coming for entry-level jobs! https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/08/ai-entry-level-jobs-talent/
[5] Withdrawing blood using machines -https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL0zlSjtXtk/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
[6] America is running out of workers… https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/possible-david-autor-ais-impact-jobs-expertise-labor-markets-hoffman-uqe7c
[7] IBM replaced 200 HR staffs with AI agents, https://www.instagram.com/p/DMIpgvKpfEf/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
[8] Microsoft's study on which jobs will go and which get to keep.. https://www.instagram.com/p/DMnFvgxRaoh/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
[9] IBM lays off 8,000 employees as AI replaces HR department. See: https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/tech-layoffs-2025-ibm-lays-off-8000-employees-as-ai-replaces-hr-department-478053-2025-05-28
[10] Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker: https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/
[11] NerdWallet Tech Layoffs Article:: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/tech-layoffs
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