For months, the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) replacing human workers has hovered over the American economy like a distant storm. But this week, the storm made landfall, as viral doomsday essays seemed to become reality.
AI executive Matt Shumer made a stir early in the month with an essay posted to X.com (and adapted for Fortune) that forcefully argued for white-collar workers to be afraid. He likened the moment to February 2020, with the pandemic rapidly approaching U.S. shores and a widely unprepared American public. The essay has been viewed 85 million times on the social media platform.
