The Case for Augmenting (Not Cutting) People

As a child, I had an unhealthy relationship with food. One day, after promising to not overeat, my mother caught me at the fridge, gorging on cheese. Her words stayed with me: “You may think you’re lying to me, but you’re lying to yourself.” We do that a lot, lie to ourselves. I don’t like making predictions, but I’ll make one now. I’m confident it’ll pan out: organizations cutting staff “because AI” will come to regret that choice. That’s not to say I believe that’s why they’re actually laying people off. Many orgs were likely overstaffed. AI is just the excuse leaders are giving Wall Street. Perhaps some believe it. If so, they’re lying to themselves. And there will be consequences. As the class “fat kid,” I was bullied. It affected my personality. I became simultaneously shy and viciously sardonic. My grades suffered. I’m still paying the price for the fridge “easy fix” decades ago. Near-term pleasure, long-term suffering. Orgs cutting staff are being rewarded with a near-term…