On June 7, 2026, Chinese media outlet Yicai published a commentary article stating that artificial intelligence (AI) does not simply take away jobs, and that the real challenge lies in whether society can adapt to technological progress.

The article introduced a commentary by Zheng Youde (ジョン・ヨウダー) from the Intellectual Property and Competition Law Center at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Zheng stated that while the rapid development of AI led to the spread of "employment doomsday theories" where humans would be replaced by machines, as technology implementation progressed, a more rational view emerged: "AI changes the nature of work, it does not simply eliminate jobs."

It also mentioned that Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon stated that while the amount of work AI can automate over the next 10 years is equivalent to about 25% of working hours, the increasing sophistication of tools would lead to increased complexity in jobs, thus not reaching the point of taking away human jobs.

Furthermore, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pointed out that recent corporate layoffs were due to management and strategic adjustments, not AI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also acknowledged that "interpersonal interaction and human touch in work cannot be replaced by AI," indicating that these three tech leaders reportedly view AI purely as "a complement to humans."

Zheng pointed out that in the modern era where AI participates in work, the "lump of labor fallacy," which posits that the total amount of work is fixed and that if someone's job increases, another's is lost, should be broken.

As a basis for this, he introduced an analysis by David George of the U.S. venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. George conveyed his view that historically, technological innovation has lowered costs and created new demands and occupations, and that the frequency with which companies actually treat AI as an augmentation tool rather than a replacement has significantly increased. He further argued that the benefits of AI-driven capability enhancement are prominent in actual development environments, and employment in software development continues to grow.

Zheng mentioned that Professor Alex Imas of the University of Chicago pointed out that while AI handles routine cognitive tasks, humans will be increasingly required for inelastic demands such as judgment and emotional interaction.

He explained that while there are challenges surrounding AI and employment, such as a Stanford University study showing that the employment rate for young people in highly AI-involved occupations decreased by approximately 16%, and high implementation costs, actual application is expected to take decades due to technological limitations and organizational resistance.

Furthermore, he introduced the view of Professor David Autor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S., who suggested that "if properly implemented, AI also has the potential to restore the vitality of middle-class employment."

Zheng concluded by stating that the true challenge in the future is not whether the total number of jobs will decrease, but whether the speed of AI's progress will exceed society's ability to adapt. He added that the redistribution of wealth, the redesign of talent development systems, and the importance of uniquely human values such as responsibility and empathy will become the core factors determining the future labor market. (Editor and translator: Kawajiri)