The Boldest Startup of the Year: Replacing Human Jobs with AI
Have you ever worried that robots might take your job one day? A new startup is actually planning to make this happen.
A company called Mechanize has one of the boldest business ideas of the year. It sounds like something from a science fiction TV show, but it’s just another ambitious startup from Silicon Valley. This new company wants to automate all possible jobs—including yours—and is already raising millions of dollars to do it.
Mechanize aims to create tools and digital environments that can train artificial intelligence (AI) to do any task that currently requires real people. Their idea is, literally, to replace humans in the workforce.
According to the founder, Tamay Besiroglu, the company’s “addressable market” is nothing less than all the salaries of workers around the world—which amounts to $60 trillion per year. This is an incredibly ambitious goal that has raised both interest and concern.
Why does this matter? By 2040, the automation of work activities, powered by technologies like artificial intelligence, could provide an annual increase in global productivity of 0.5% to 3.4%. This means that the world’s economy could produce much more with the same or fewer resources.
Additionally, the AI market is expected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, with approximately $6.6 trillion coming from productivity improvements. To put this in perspective, that’s about three times the entire GDP of Brazil.
While some see this as an exciting development that could free humans from repetitive tasks and create new types of jobs, others worry about widespread unemployment and increasing inequality. The question remains: If AI can do most jobs, what will humans do?
As AI technology continues to advance rapidly, companies like Mechanize are betting that the future of work will look very different from today. Whether this vision becomes reality depends on many factors, including technological progress, economic considerations, and societal choices about how we want to live and work.
Discussion Questions
- Do you think it’s possible for AI to completely replace humans in most jobs? Why or why not?
- How would you feel if your job could be done by artificial intelligence? Would you be worried or relieved?
- What kinds of jobs do you think are most likely to be automated in the next 10 years?
- What kinds of jobs do you think will be the hardest for AI to replace? Why?
- If many jobs become automated, what should people do with their time instead of working?
- Do you think governments should limit how many jobs can be replaced by AI? Why or why not?
- How might society change if most traditional jobs are done by AI?
- Do you think increased productivity from AI will benefit everyone or just a small group of people? Explain your answer.
- What new types of jobs might be created as AI takes over more traditional work?
- If you were designing an education system for a future where many current jobs are automated, what skills would you focus on teaching?
