AI Was Supposed To Take Your Job. Why Hasn't It?
Jul 1, 2026 · 20:23
Phil Andrews argues that AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT probably won't take your job, but someone using AI will if you don't use it. Opening with the 1967 debut of the ATM at Barclays, he shows bank tellers instead doubled over the next 50 years, peaking in 2007. Of every occupation title tracked by the U.S. Census over 60 years, only the elevator operator was fully eliminated by automation, while autopilot made airline pilots ten times more numerous. Citing MIT economist David Autor's research, he notes 60% of today's jobs didn't exist 50 years ago, because inventions that make work more valuable create new jobs rather than replacing workers. Using his 3D-printed Maslow's hierarchy pyramid, built with Claude, he explains competing against non-consumption, and footnotes that elevator operators retired because modern skyscrapers like the Burj Khalifa demand computer-managed elevators.
