Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins/Futurism. Source: Getty Images
In 2026, the grim comedy of late capitalism has found a perfect punchline: workers laid off in a dismal job market are now being hired to train AI systems that will completely replace them.
If a great AI replacement ever occurs, the scale of potential displacement is enormous. MIT researchers recently calculated that today’s AI systems can already automate tasks performed by more than 20 million American workers, or about 11.7 percent of the entire US labor force.
And things are looking up Grim: In January, the total number of job cuts exceeded 2009, when the country was still struggling with the Great Recession.
That being so, it’s no surprise that workers are worried – and not just about their immediate employment prospects. The concern is evolving into something more profound, a result of the rapidly increasing intelligence of AI.
Back in August, a survey Powered by reuters and ipsos found that 71 percent of American respondents are worried that AI will “put a lot of people out of work permanently.” Although there was little evidence at the time that AI was causing mass unemployment, a number of layoffs as early as 2026 have put the possibility of an AI-fueled labor dystopia back into the spotlight.
These concerns are not felt only by workers or labor leaders. A huge list demanding a “ban” on the development of superintelligence is now forthcoming 135,000 signatures Online. Its supporters range from tech luminaries like Geoffrey Hinton and Steve Wozniak to conservative commentators like Steve Bannon and Glenn Beck to national security activists like Mike Mullen and Susan Rice.
Even celebrities like Prince Harry are involved. Under his signature, the Duke of Sussex commented, “The future of AI should serve humanity, not replace it.” “The true test of progress will be not how fast we move, but how wisely we move.”
The list also includes members from both sides of the political aisle in America. in an interview with atlantic, Bannon explained why he put his name on the list alongside prominent Democratic lawmakers like Gary Ackerman and Joe Crowley — or, as he called them, “leftists who would rather spit on the floor than say Steve Bannon is with them on anything.”
“We’re in a situation where people on the spectrum who, frankly, are not full adults … are making decisions for the species,” Bannon said with his usual humility and eloquence. “Not for the country. For the species. Once we reach this inflection point, there is no going back. So this has to stop, and we may have to take extreme measures.”
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