Blog Post 7: AI

1.

• Medium “The Social Contract is Breaking, and AI is Holding the Hammer”, helped me to learn and wrap my head around the conversation behind the corporate smiling face and reality of conversation in boardrooms. The 3 possible scenarios I found helpful to fleshing out possibilities. 
• Medium “Companies are Blaming AI for Layoffs. The Real Reason Will Piss You Off” was an interesting flip of the coin to the rhetoric we hear around AI and profit. I was not aware of how small the profit or lack of profit margins are. I believe, as pointed out in the other articles this week, our lack of knowledge around AI publicly and it being a media buzzword makes it easy to wrap up or reframe workforce cuts into the glamorous package of “AI did it”. 
• AXIOS “Behind the Curtain: A White-Collar Blood Bath”. I do not think this was new to me but I made connections, I attended 4 conferences for work this year and AI was EVERYWHERE and the “hot” topic. I work in macro settings with government social services programs and these conferences often showcase new technology but, let’s be fair, social services is not known for having money to burn, so tech companies outside of datasystem companies were not ever so widely seen at exhibitor halls like I witnessed this year and last. And the conversation wrapped a nice bow on how AI will improve “efficiency” and reduce burden on the workforce. But I find myself thinking, like the article points out, how are new grads ever going to get their feet wet without those entry level and junior level positions. 

2.

• Medium “The Social Contract is Breaking, and AI is Holding the Hammer”. The main point of this article was to point out how the public needs to be aware of how AI is developing and what this means for the job market. How we can shift to meet this rapidly growing technology and respond to try and keep division in labor and wealth from growing further. I believe this was successful and the clearly laid out scenarios were a highlight for my reading. I believe the missing part of this article was the pointing to limited profit and ROI like from Mattler article, this would have rounded out the information from multiple perspectives. 
• Medium “Companies are Blaming AI for Layoffs. The Real Reason Will Piss You Off”. The main point of this article was to point out how major tech companies are blaming AI for workforce reduction but this is not the full picture. AI is being used as scapegoat for overhiring and leveling out of profitability seen during pandemic times. I believe they did a successful job at pointing this out but could have spoken more on AI’s, even if not as profitable as assumed, long term impacts on the job market. 
• AXIOS “Behind the Curtain: A White-Collar Blood Bath”. The main point of this article was to highlight how AI is eliminating jobs and how even tech CEO’s call for the government and public to take an active approach and redirect the changes. I believe this article was successful and did a great job of moving topic along and explaining details for readers. 

 

AI experiment:

1.Questions using AI:

a.Per AI: VandeHei and Allen article and Mattlar article both agree on four points. 1. AI poses a serious risk to white-collar jobs. 2. Executives are using AI as justification. 3. Urgent need for policy and planning. 4. Entry-level jobs are essentially vulnerable. Then the article differs in five ways. 1. Prospective on the root cause of job loss. 2. How immediate and inevitable the disruption is. 3. Motivation and credibility of the warning. 4. Nature of displacement: soft attrition vs. replacement. 5. Solutions and mitigation.

b. Per AI: Of VandeHei and Allen article and Mattlar article, AXIOS article by VandeHei and Allen was more persuasive because it had more credibility and stronger authority because Amodie as a CEO has technical expertise in statements. Also, it was logically consistent and grounded in systemic risk. AI also noted Mattlar made an emotionally compelling argument. The AI did not seem to want to give a definitive answer based on prompts.

c. Per AI on take away: In one sentence “The reader should take away that AI disruption is real, accelerating, and especially dangerous for entry-level workers — but it’s intertwined with corporate incentives, not just technological progress, and workers need to prepare accordingly.” ChatGPT also broke this down into five lengthy points and offered to write a two paragraph summary.

2 and 3. I used ChatGPT but did not use my account or login, I used the free public facing so the prompts would not be guided by my previous searches and data. I found the tool giving me less follow up prompts and options, but might be due to the free version. I had to guide the prompt along. 

 

4. 2 prompts: 

After prompting on persuasion the AI offered options so I entered, “yes, give a person risk assessment checklist.” 

✅ AI-Era Personal Job Risk Assessment Checklist

1. Task Automation Risk

How much of your daily work consists of tasks that AI can now do?
Rate each area 1–5:

• ☐ Writing or summarizing content
• ☐ Information research
• ☐ Creating presentations or reports
• ☐ Data entry / data cleanup
• ☐ Basic analysis / dashboards
• ☐ Scheduling, admin, coordination
• ☐ Code writing or debugging
• ☐ Customer support or email responses

If your average score is >3:
Your tasks are highly automatable.

2. Entry-Level vs. Judgment-Level Work

• ☐ Does your job rely mostly on templates, routines, or clear instructions?
• ☐ Does your job require only 0–3 years of experience?
• ☐ Could someone new be trained to do 80% of your job in under 3 months?
• ☐ Does most of your work happen in documents, spreadsheets, or software tools?

If you check 2 or more:
You are in an entry-level or semi-structured role, which is at high risk.

3. Replaceability & Context Depth

• ☐ Do you frequently use specialized knowledge that isn’t written down?
• ☐ Do you understand context that newcomers or AI would lack?
• ☐ Are you the person people ask when there’s ambiguity?
• ☐ Do critical processes break without you?
• ☐ Are you deeply embedded in team relationships or client dynamics?

If you check fewer than 2:
You are easier to replace, either by a tool or a cheaper worker.

4. Business Incentive Risk

Evaluate your company’s situation:

• ☐ Has there been talk of restructuring, efficiency initiatives, or cost-cutting?
• ☐ Has your company recently done layoffs?
• ☐ Have executives mentioned “AI transformation,” “automation,” or “leaning out headcount”?
• ☐ Is the company under investor pressure or missing revenue targets?
• ☐ Are teams being told to “do more with less”?

3+ checkmarks = High corporate incentive to reduce labor costs.

5. Role Scarcity & Career Ladder Health

• ☐ Are promotions slowing down at your company?
• ☐ Are fewer entry-level roles being posted in your field?
• ☐ Are job descriptions shifting to “AI-augmented” or “AI-first”?
• ☐ Are internships, junior roles, or apprenticeship paths shrinking?

If yes to 2–3:
Your career mobility is at risk, even if your current job is stable.

6. AI Readiness & Skill Positioning

Rate yourself 1–5:

• ☐ I use AI tools daily in my work
• ☐ I have automated parts of my workflow
• ☐ I can prompt, verify, and integrate AI output
• ☐ I understand the strengths/weaknesses of current models
• ☐ I’ve added measurable productivity by using AI

Average score <3 = You need to upskill fast.

7. Market Value & Proof of Impact

• ☐ Do you track your accomplishments and business outcomes?
• ☐ Can you quantify your results (money saved, revenue helped, time reduced)?
• ☐ Do others rely on your judgment, not just your output?
• ☐ Do you have achievements that AI cannot imitate?

If you cannot show measurable value, your risk is higher.

🧮 Risk Scoring (Quick Summary)

Add up how many “High-Risk” categories you triggered:

• 0–1 → Low Risk
  Your tasks require expertise, judgment, trust, or human interaction.
• 2–3 → Medium Risk
  Some parts of your role are exposed; you need to future-proof.
• 4–6 → High Risk
  Your job or job path could be disrupted in the next 12–36 months.
• 7+ → Very High Risk
  Begin planning for transition, upskilling, or job redesign immediately.

The second interesting prompt. I asked if I am at high risk. How can I upskill? And it gave an endless checklist but I asked for a simple response and was given. 

“If you’re high-risk, the single most important thing to do is shift from tasks AI can perform to work that requires human judgment, context, interpersonal skill, and ownership of decisions or systems.” 

5. I learned or more so was shown how my own previous data shapes the responses my AI tools give me by using the free version of ChatGPT vs my own account. I thought the responses I was given were helpful and somewhat generic. The responses played the middle ground with no definitive bias. Emotionally, I feel more apprehensive about my use of AI tools, or take them with a larger grain of salt, after the semester and life experience of learning more about AI and its depth. I have a co-worker who refers to AI as their personal assistant and I find that more fitting and a little concerning as time goes on. I feel we are heading toward AI being a more and more integrated aspect of our life. For instance I ordered at the Wendy’s drive thru and it was AI this week for the first time. We will adapt and manage this as a collective but like the article alludes we need further education and public knowledge for the masses for a smooth transition.