Fear Grows That AI Is Permanently Eliminating Jobs
•February 11, 2026
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Companies Mentioned
Why It Matters
If AI-driven automation accelerates, it could reshape the U.S. labor market, prompting policy debates and social unrest. Understanding the scale of potential displacement is crucial for businesses and regulators planning workforce transitions.
Key Takeaways
- •MIT: AI could replace tasks of 20 million workers
- •Reuters/Ipsos poll: 71% fear permanent AI job loss
- •2026 layoffs exceed 2009 recession levels, raising alarm
- •135k signatures demand AI superintelligence development ban
- •Cross‑political coalition warns AI could reshape labor market
Pulse Analysis
The prospect of AI‑driven automation is no longer a speculative future scenario; recent MIT research quantifies its immediacy, suggesting that current models can already perform tasks accounting for roughly 12 percent of U.S. employment. This figure translates to more than 20 million workers whose daily responsibilities could be replicated by algorithms, raising questions about productivity gains versus widespread displacement. Economists warn that such a shift could compress wages, accelerate gig‑economy growth, and force firms to rethink talent strategies in an environment where human labor becomes a marginal cost.
Public sentiment mirrors the data, with a Reuters‑Ipsos poll revealing that 71 percent of Americans fear AI will permanently eliminate jobs. The anxiety is amplified by a wave of layoffs in early 2026 that eclipsed the job‑cut peak of the 2009 financial crisis, underscoring the tangible impact on workers across sectors. Media coverage and high‑profile endorsements—from tech pioneers like Geoffrey Hinton to political figures across the aisle—have turned the conversation into a bipartisan concern, prompting a surge in advocacy for responsible AI development.
Policy responses are coalescing around a growing petition that now boasts roughly 135,000 signatures demanding a prohibition on superintelligence research. The signatories span tech luminaries, security officials, and even celebrities, reflecting a rare consensus on the need for governance. Stakeholders are calling for robust reskilling programs, transparent AI auditing, and regulatory frameworks that balance innovation with societal safeguards. Companies that proactively address these challenges are likely to gain a competitive edge, while those that ignore the looming labor transformation risk reputational damage and regulatory backlash.
Fear Grows That AI Is Permanently Eliminating Jobs
In 2026, the grim comedy of late capitalism seems to have found a perfect punchline: workers laid off in a dismal job market are now being hired to train AI systems meant to replace them altogether.
If a great AI replacement ever comes to pass, the scale of potential displacement is massive. MIT researchers recently calculated that today’s AI systems could 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 tangibly grim: in January, the total number of job cuts exceeded even 2009, when the country was still roiling from the great recession.
That being the case, it’s no surprise that workers are worried — and not just about their immediate employment prospects. The anxiety is evolving into something deeper, the result of AI’s seemingly rapidly expanding intelligence.
Back in August, a poll conducted by Reuters and Ipsos showed that 71 percent of American respondents are concerned that AI will put “too many people out of work permanently.” Though there was little evidence AI was causing mass unemployment at the time, a slew of layoffs in early 2026 have thrust the possibility of AI-fueled labor dystopia back into the spotlight.
Those anxieties aren’t just felt by workers or labor leaders. A massive list calling for a “prohibition” on the development of superintelligence is now nearing 135,000 signatures online. Its endorsers run the gamut from tech luminaries like Geoffrey Hinton and Steve Wozniak to conservative commentators like Steve Bannon and Glenn Beck to national security operatives like Mike Mullen and Susan Rice.
Even celebrity figures like Prince Harry are on board. “The future of AI should serve humanity, not replace it,” the Duke of Sussex commented under his signature. “The true test of progress will be not how fast we move, but how wisely we steer.”
The list also includes members from both sides of the political aisle in the US. In an interview with the 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, “lefties that 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 that are not, quite frankly, total adults… are making decisions for the species,” Bannon said, with his usual delicacy and eloquence. “Not for the country. For the species. Once we hit this inflection point, there’s no coming back. That’s why it’s got to be stopped, and we may have to take extreme measures.”
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The post Fear Grows That AI Is Permanently Eliminating Jobs appeared first on Futurism.
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