You know, it’s interesting how conventional wisdom has this way of swaying our beliefs, isn’t it? We’ve been told time and time again that artificial intelligence won’t be a job killer, but we’re starting to see a different narrative emerge. After delving into the minds of the AI community, we’ve come across some compelling evidence that’s making us question this prevailing notion.

We have done serious digging into the subject, producing video programs, engaging in discussions, and tapping into the insights of experts from Research, Universities and AI companies. And they all point us towards history, towards automation, and how it was once thought to spell doom for jobs. But guess what? It actually sparked new opportunities since the days of the very first steam engine in England back in 1712.

The Luddites, those folks who rose up in the late 18th century, believed that mechanized weaving was going to rob weavers of their livelihoods. But oh, how wrong they were! It triggered a surge in cloth production that still resonates today. And throughout history, trade unions have resisted automation, fearing job losses. Yes, jobs have been lost, but we’ve witnessed the rise of new avenues of employment.

But AI seems to be playing a different tune. The signs are pointing towards jobs vanishing into thin air, leaving no trail of new opportunities in their wake. It’s so telling that even Goldman Sachs warned us back in March that AI could snatch away a quarter of the world’s jobs, that’s around 300 million positions, if you can wrap your mind around that.

Just look at India, where 4,000 jobs took a nosedive in May, and AI was right at the center of it all. And you know, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s just the tip of the iceberg, the number keeps ticking upwards by the day. India has often dealt with employment by throwing people at the problem, creating jobs that might not be all that productive. But guess what? AI is exposing that strategy’s limitations, and there’s no place to hide anymore.

I have talked with economists and their view is that automation, the kind we’ve seen before, happened in an industrial economy. But AI, it’s walked right into a service economy, and guess what’s in its sights? Yep, service jobs. These economists think it might just wipe out these jobs on a grand scale, an industrial-scale blow if you will.

I have a lifelong friend, in fact that guy who pulled me out of Berkeley to join him at IBM at the turn of the nineteenth century, and an AI enthusiast to the core. He’s been breathing AI since he left Stanford. He’s the big cheese at a leading AI company now, and he’s all about taming AI’s wild side. The company, with its global reach from its San Jose, California HQ, is working on ways to control AI. It’s like they’re taking a page from the Wright Brothers’ playbook before they took that groundbreaking flight at Kitty Hawk.

Oh, and speaking about the Wright Brothers’ secret sauce – control. They knew that just taking off wasn’t enough; you had to steer that aircraft. Larry and his team reckon AI needs a similar dose of control to make it safe. He had a chat with a big deal reporter on her PBS show and pointed out that while billions are being poured into AI as a game-changer, only a tiny bit is being used to ensure it’s not running amok.

A very tiny bit.

It’s all about control actually, and you can’t jump the gun by slapping on stupid, virtue signaling, short sighted regulations under which we have no competency. AI needs to be reined in before we can even think about laying down the law, but no lawmakers understand anything about GAI. So, turns out, the conventional wisdom? It’s not looking so wise when it comes to AI and jobs, and it’s also off the mark when it comes to regulation.

Control is the key. Once we’ve got that down, then we can talk about the rules of the game. If we don’t, none of what happens next will matter, will it?