The nature of work is being redesigned by artificial intelligence. We are already seeing early signals. Block, the parent company of Square and Cash App, recently announced plans to reduce its workforce significantly as part of a restructuring driven by AI adoption. As CEO Jack Dorsey noted, a smaller team equipped with the right AI tools can now accomplish more and do it better. Markets responded positively, with the company’s stock rising sharply on the news.
This is a reminder that AI is not just another technology layer; it is changing how organizations think about productivity, scale, and the role of human labour. Tasks that once required large teams are increasingly being automated, streamlined, or augmented by intelligent systems. Investors tend to reward these transitions because they see AI lowering operational costs and increasing efficiency, effectively shifting parts of human work toward a more commoditized layer of execution.
We have seen similar inflection points before. Technology repeatedly resets the structure of industries, creating new opportunities even as it makes some roles redundant. As AI becomes more embedded in the tools companies build and use, it will both eliminate certain functions currently done by humans at scale.
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There is an analogy here from a political ad. Recall the Obama campaign ad often referred to as “The Stage”, one of the more pointed political ads during the U.S. presidential race against Mitt Romney. In that narrative, workers assembled a stage for a town hall meeting, only for the candidate to step onto the very platform they built and announce layoffs. The symbolism was powerful: the system people help construct can sometimes render them expendable.
Artificial intelligence carries a similar paradox. As companies invest in building smarter tools, those tools increase productivity, but they also reduce the need for certain roles. The same engineers, analysts, and operators who train and refine AI systems may eventually see parts of their functions automated and phased out by AI.
The reality is not malicious; it is structural. Technology improves, efficiency rises, and organizations recalibrate. The lesson is not fear but awareness. As AI advances, the key is to continuously reposition oneself.
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The capitalist will preach efficiency, and then glorify how tech makes everything great. But life is not a straight line, commoditiziing human labour misses the point; labour is also about dignity, and dignity cannot be commoditized…