Short answer: short term yes; long term probably not. All the dipshit c-suites pushing the “AI” worker replacement initiatives are going to destroy their workforces and then realize that LLMs can’t actually reliably replace any of the workers they fired. And I love that for management.

That’s not what is going to happen. Copilot will simply increase productivity over, and where before they needed 10 people, gradually, through attrition they will need only 9, then 8, and so on. That does not mean higher unemployment though, it means more product.

• “AI means there will be fewer people required to do the same amount of work”

• “this does not mean higher unemployment”

I think you left out a steep off reasoning there. At least, I don’t follow.

When productivity increases (as it has been doing for ages) the manufacturing output increases. That’s what normally happens.

That’s only the case if demand grows at the same rate as the production output.

Well, the price goes down, or/end the salaries go up, or resources are freed for new investments…

Only in the last case_ there is a chance_ that the amount of jobs will remain the same, the other cases will lead to lost jobs.