The AI Question No One Wants to Answer

Key Takeaways

• AI will eliminate millions of jobs—many of them soon.

  
  

• The “don’t worry, new jobs will be created” argument is flimsy at best, delusional at worst.

  
  

• Unless society changes how it values work and income, we’re heading for mass displacement and deeper inequality.

  
  

• Real solutions exist, but they require courage, policy, and systems-level thinking that most leaders still refuse to engage with.

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What happens to millions of workers when automation replaces their jobs and what real solutions exist?

Every day, my feed is flooded with bold promises from people like Sam Altman and a cavalcade of other technocrats about how AI will “transform everything”, from our workflows, our industries, even our personal lives.

While I’m obviously interested in the potential (and even excited in some ways), I'm nowhere near as enamored by the technology, because there’s a critical question that so far, hasn't produced a legitimate answer from any of these people:

What happens to the hundreds of thousands, or more likely, millions of people whose jobs are replaced by all of this automation?

What are they supposed to do next? What role will they move into? Where’s the plan?

I’ve asked this question many times and still haven’t heard a satisfactory answer. I’m not talking about abstract theories - I mean real, tangible paths for displaced workers. Because the idea that new jobs will magically emerge or that the cost of living will drop enough to offset job loss is, frankly, not credible right now.

Let’s unpack this.

The Hard Reality: Automation Is Already Replacing Jobs

This isn’t a future problem. It’s already happening and through our job seeker support program, seeing the impacts up close and personally.

Customer service, data entry, tech support, legal review, AI is rapidly encroaching.

In industries like retail, transportation, logistics, and even parts of healthcare, the human layer is being stripped out.

The most at-risk jobs aren’t luxuries, they’re lifelines. They’re how families pay rent, get healthcare, and build stable lives.

And AI doesn’t just replace “low-skill” roles. It’s gunning for knowledge work too—copywriting, analysis, even aspects of software engineering and medical diagnostics.

This is not just about efficiency. It’s about displacement, on a scale we’re not prepared for.

The Fantasy That “New Jobs Will Just Appear”

One of the most repeated talking points from AI optimists is that “new roles will be created, ones we can’t even imagine yet.” Historically, that’s been true. But this time is different.

AI can replace cognitive work, not just repetitive tasks and no matter what, the pressure will always be on companies to achieve new levels of productivity and profitability.

Executives will make predictable decisions here and many are already openly talking about minimizing their human workforces.

The jobs it creates also appear to be quite niche (e.g., AI prompt engineers, ethics officers) and require high specialization, which will not be accessible to everyone.

Reskilling at scale isn’t fast, cheap, or universally effective. We’ve never done it well (manufacturing job losses, mining and industry for example), and we’re not doing it well now.

The truth? There’s no credible roadmap for mass employment post-AI disruption. Just a hope that somehow, things will sort themselves out.

Hope isn’t a strategy, particularly when livelihoods are on the line.

Will AI Make Life So Cheap We Won’t Need Jobs?

Another common response is, “Don’t worry, AI will dramatically reduce costs, give us back more time, and improve quality of life.”

Let’s talk about that.

Yes, AI might lower the cost of services like content creation, legal paperwork, or tutoring, but the major expenses in life, such as housing, healthcare, education, and energy aren’t seeing cost reductions due to AI. Not meaningfully anyhow.

Absolutely people will have more time on their hands, but that will be taken up with job searching, not productivity.

And wealth? It’s concentrating at the top, not being redistributed.

Without aggressive intervention, AI is more likely to increase inequality than solve it.

Unless we change the structure of how gains are shared, displaced workers won’t just be out of work, they’ll be priced out of the system.

What Might Actually Work

If we’re serious about avoiding a mass crisis, we need bold, concrete solutions, not platitudes from these leaders. Here are a few ideas:

1. Reskilling at a National Scale

Think FDR’s New Deal meets the 21st century. Not just training people to code, but helping them move into caregiving, trades, climate resilience, and community infrastructure jobs AI can’t replace.

2. Revaluing Human-Centered Work

Teaching. Coaching. Caring. Building relationships. These are deeply human roles that are undervalued today, but could be pillars of a new employment economy if we shift incentives.

3. New Economic Models

Universal Basic Income, conditional cash transfers, or wage subsidies may be necessary to decouple survival from employment in a post-AI world.

4. Augmentation Over Replacement

We should be incentivizing businesses to enhance human capability, not eliminate it. AI should be a co-pilot, not a pink slip generator.

5. Cultural and Structural Shifts

We need to think bigger: job-sharing, 4-day work weeks, portable benefits, and new definitions of productivity. Not every job needs to be 40 hours. Not every person needs just one.

The Bottom Line

I believe in progress. I believe in innovation. But I also believe in being honest about the consequences.

AI is already changing the game. The question is whether we’ll leave millions behind while we chase the next shiny tool, or whether we’ll create a society where everyone can still participate meaningfully, even in an AI-powered world.

This isn’t doom-and-gloom. It’s a call to action. If we want to write a better story, we need to do it on purpose.

Would love to hear from others who are thinking seriously about this. What models are you seeing that give you hope? Where are we already failing, and what would it take to fix it?

What We’re Doing to Help at Goalster

At Goalster, we know we can't solve this entire challenge alone, but we refuse to sit on the sidelines while people’s livelihoods are disrupted so that a few can massively profit.

We’re building real solutions for both sides of the equation:

For Job Seekers Impacted

We provide free access to tools, coaching, and a guided program that helps people take control of their job search, get organized, stay accountable, and land roles faster—with less guesswork and more support.

👉 Sign up for free and start making real progress with Goalster

For Experienced Professionals & Coaches Wanting Alternatives

If you’ve got talent, experience, and the heart to help others, Goalster can help you turn that into sustainable income.

We support coaches, recruiters, and career professionals with a platform to deliver value, stay connected to clients, and grow a meaningful business through services that actually make a difference.

👉 Read how Goalster is helping professionals create new opportunities in this new world

We can’t help everyone, but we’re in the fight nonetheless, creating a platform, an ecosystem, and a mission that’s human-first, not hype-first.

Goalster is a company that customers trust.

That investors can believe in.

And that society should want to succeed.

Let’s build a future that includes all of us.