“The Social Contract Is Breaking, and AI Is Holding the Hammer” (Thakur, 2025)

One Thing I Learned 

I had no idea that so many people have already been laid off and replaced with AI. Seeing that tens of thousands of people have already experienced this changed my perception of how AI is changing the job market. I also was not aware that there are so many plans for more jobs to be lost and that companies are so open about it. 

What I Think of the Article 

I think this article is trying to express that AI is disrupting the job market across industries and that people should prepare. The article reiterates that these changes are happening very fast. The speed of these changes are faster than our current policies and norms can handle. The article offers ways that people are preparing for AI, but also stresses that we need new strategies. I think the article offers descriptive examples. I felt the sense of urgency that was being conveyed. There could have been more direction given for how the reader should respond. 

“Companies Are Blaming AI for Layoffs. The Real Reason Will Piss You Off.” (Mattlar, 2025)

One Thing I Learned 

I learned that AI is not actually the reason that there are mass layoffs. It could actually be that mass layoffs are because of over-hiring during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies are saying that AI is the reason they do something because it sounds high tech. 

What I Think of the Article

This article was revealing the false equivalencies that companies are using as propaganda. Companies in the United States are firing thousands of people with plans for more. This is being attributed to the companies adopting AI, but this article says that is a cover-up. The article also gives advice for how to be ready, and I thought that advice was helpful. Especially the advice to “document your wins” and keep track of your worth in a company. 

“Behind the Curtain: A white-collar bloodbath” (Vandehei & Allen, 2025)

One Thing I Learned 

I learned that Dario Amodei is an AI developer and an active part of the rhetoric being formed around AI. I learned that he has been very vocal about what he considers the reality that AI will be responsible for unemployment to reach 10%-20%. 

What I Think of the Article

It seems this article is vocalizing the false equivalency that Mattlar was describing in his article. I think the point of this article is to convey the message of Dario Amodei. It seems like 

AI Experiment 

Analyze the last two from these statements 

1. Where are these articles in agreement and where do they disagree?

These articles agree that return on investment for AI is low and that companies are using AI in the story being told about layoffs. The articles also agree that white collar jobs are at risk.

These articles disagree about the cause of layoffs. They also disagree about the magnitude of the threat AI poses to jobs. 

1. Which of these articles are the most persuasive and why?

I think Mattlar’s article is more persuasive because it offers the perspectives of many. The article by Vandehei & Allen focuses on the perspective of one AI developer, which also feels like an unreliable source. 

1. What do you think we should take away from these articles?

I think we should use these articles to think critically about AI in our lives and in the news. As a complex issue, there are many contrasting narratives. It can be easy for a person like me to get swept up in the idea that AI is causing job losses and demonize AI while missing the role of the ruling class. This comic from Mattlar (2025) says it all. 

 

Pick two prompts and responses that you found the most interesting, enlightening, or informative, for any reason.

• I asked AI to list 3 points the articles agree on and 3 points they disagree on.
• I asked AI to make a plan of action for me based on each article.
  • The plan of action based on Mattlar’s article revolves around holding companies accountable. The plan AI generated from Vandehei & Allen’s plan centers adopting AI. This was very telling about the article’s intentions. 

Talk about these three things:

1. What did you learn about using AI that you might not have known?

AI is able to detect patterns in articles that I do not. It can be used to decipher what an article is trying to pursued someone to do. 

1. What did you think about the responses You received? Good, weird, helpful, annoying, incorrect, or whatever.

The responses I got were good summarizations. They also revealed the intentions in the article I did not pick up on. 

1. What was your emotional reaction to using this tool?

I feel amazement when I use Chat GPT. I felt hyper and giddy when it could give me exactly what I asked for and more. 

1. Where do you think we are headed and how do we manage it?

I feel we are headed towards a world where people are split because of AI. I feel this way because this class has brought me further from being polarized myself. The systems in the USA intentionally cause division. It seems that AI is already causing more division. We manage this by having human to human chats about AI and setting AI standards in our fields. We can educate ourselves and not allow headlines and shame to run the narrative. 

References 

Mattlar, J. (2025, October). Companies are blaming AI for layoffs. The real reason will piss you off. Medium. https://medium.com/@mattlar.jari/companies-are-blaming-ai-for-layoffs-the-real-reason-will-piss-you-off-149639ce47cf

Thakur, R. (2025, July). The social contract is breaking, and AI is holding the hammer. Medium. https://ninza7.medium.com/the-social-contract-is-breaking-and-ai-is-holding-the-hammer-002d8d4aa96c

Vandehei, J., & Allen, M. (2025, May). Behind the curtain: a white-collar bloodbath. Axios. https://www.axios.com/2025/05/28/ai-jobs-white-collar-unemployment-anthropic

AI Use Statement 

ChatGPT. (2025, November 22). Responses to user questions about AI-driven layoffs and article comparisons [Large language model]. OpenAI. https://chat.openai.com/

ChatGPT-5 was prompted with 2 prompts: 

Behind the Curtain: A white-collar bloodbath” (Vandehei & Allen, 2025) and “Companies Are Blaming AI for Layoffs. The Real Reason Will Piss You Off.” (Mattlar, 2025). 3 main points they agree on and 3 main points they disagree on briefly 

Make an action plan for an individual based on each article. Briefly describe each