Economic Thought Experiment on AI-Driven Layoffs
gabriel1 · x · 2026-07-05
The author proposes a thought experiment: a 10-person company uses AI to double efficiency, lays off 5 people, and doubles its profit. The newly freed market space attracts a competitor, Company B, which hires those 5 workers. The result is full employment, and price competition between the two companies makes the world better off. In a follow-up, the author notes that in reality, companies often train employees to do more with AI, meaning the worst-case scenario isn't actually bad for anyone.
More from AGI Musings
- mark_k: "Eject all doomers from the AI companies — they're destroying you from the inside" — mark_k · 2026-09-11
- Adam Marblestone's Podcast Reading List: Evolution of Intelligence to Digital Minds — KordingLab · 2026-09-11
- Superintelligence will be maximum good, not stupid or evil, argues Patterson — davidpattersonx · 2026-09-11
- Mathematician Daniel Litt Launches Problem Repo to Track Human vs AI Progress: 15 Problems, 1 Solved — littmath · 2026-09-11
- Should AI models be taught morality? Breakout incidents expose missing ethical training — Pfungus_ · 2026-09-11
- SoftBank's Masayoshi Son predicts 100 trillion self-replicating AIs: "humans' era as top life form is ending" — Puzzleheaded-King584 · 2026-09-11