AI Didn’t Take Your Job. That’s Just What They’re Saying.

On communications subterfuge, market uncertainty, and the leadership cost of blaming the machine

My mother asked me a question recently that stopped me in my tracks.

She had been watching the news. The layoffs. The headlines. The corporate announcements about “efficiency through automation” and “workforce transformation driven by artificial intelligence.” She asked, with the directness that mothers have: “Is AI why all these people are losing their jobs?”

I thought about the honest answer for a moment. Then I said: “AI is a reason being used. It is not always the real reason.”