Andrew Ng: There is No "AI Unemployment Crisis," Only Startups Trying to Sell for a High Price and Big Companies Using it as an Excuse to Mask Layoffs

According to Dongcha Beating's monitoring, today Google's AI luminary Andrew Ng published a post refuting the widely circulated "AI is causing mass unemployment" narrative. He pointed out that not only is there no data to support this claim, but it is also driven by ulterior motives within the tech industry. Using the software engineering field, which is most impacted by AI-driven automation, as an example, he noted that the demand for talent in this field remains strong, with the overall U.S. unemployment rate holding steady at a healthy 4.3%. Ng asserted that the future will only see a "AI jobapalooza" that will create more jobs.

Ng did not hold back in exposing the vested interests behind this panic. Firstly, he mentioned leading AI labs that depict doomsday scenarios of "AI taking over humanity" to showcase the power of their own technology. Secondly, AI software companies, where traditional SaaS software would typically charge only $100 to $1,000 per user annually; however, by packaging AI as a "magic tool that can replace a $100,000-a-year employee," these companies can price it even at $10,000, and customers would still consider it a bargain.

Lastly, he highlighted large corporations. By framing layoffs as "introducing AI to enhance productivity," senior management can appear astute and cutting-edge in the eyes of the capital markets. This image is far more respectable than admitting "we over-hired blindly during the pandemic low-interest period and now we have to clean up the mess." Ng acknowledged that AI is indeed changing the nature of work, but he emphasized that this is a far cry from a labor market collapse.