What will happen when artificial intelligence (AI) ghost workers learn how to do our jobs? James Myers is the publisher of The Quantum Record, an online journal about the future that focuses on philosophy, science, technology and time. His March 1, 2026, article “What Does the Future Hold After Human Emulators Make Millions of Workers Obsolete and Unemployed?” alerted me to Elon Musk’s use of xAI to introduce AI “human emulators” into the workforce.
Peter Diamandis of XPrize and Singularity University fame has recently described what he believes will be the next 2 to 8 years of social unrest in the United States from the technological disruption AI and robotics will bring.
In a thought piece, he states:
“Present-day economics depends on a key premise: that labour markets self-correct after technological disruption. Steam displaced farmers. Electricity displaced the steam worker. The computer displaced the typist. Every time, new jobs emerged and flourished, and the world (and employees) ended up better than before. Economists built careers on this pattern. Policymakers bet civilizations on it. That assumption is now breaking.”
Work Disrupted
Where automation and technology tend to disrupt labour in specific economic sectors, AI and robots, particularly the humanoid kind, are generalists. Both of these technologies can disrupt “all types of work,” states Peter. Nothing similar has happened in the past. The closest analogy would be the demobilization of soldiers after World War II.
Governments across the globe came up with different responses. For example, America’s demobilization answer was the GI Bill. Canada passed the Veterans Rehabilitation Act. The UK created Civil Resettlement Units. These programs attempted to reintegrate soldiers into the post-war global economy by providing financial aid, job protection, training and education.
What is already happening in big tech firms provides evidence for the future of work. Between 100 and 150,000 jobs disappeared last year, displaced largely by AI.
How is that even possible?
A Test Case Provides the Evidence
Myers describes a scenario involving a human employee in a test at xAI. The employee managed a project with 20 others. The employee never met them, even though ideas and correspondence were exchanged. It turned out the employee’s colleagues were human emulators. When the employee wanted to meet the co-workers, there was no there there. This test implies that by adopting AI, a workforce of 1 could do the work of 20. Imagine being able to cut 95% of your employees.
The Job Fallout
You don’t have to imagine it if you are running a big tech firm. They have been leading by example. Job losses in 2025 at some of America’s largest big tech companies included:
- Intel – 27,159
- TCS – 19,755
- Microsoft – 15,387
- Verizon – 15,000
- Amazon – 14,709
- Google – 9,000
- Meta – 3,600
Goldman Sachs anticipates that approximately 40% of American jobs are at high risk over the next decade because of AI.
What does this mean for young people graduating after four years of university?
What does it mean for employees who increasingly see management bringing in AI tools?
What does it mean for future generations of workers?
If Musk’s human emulators invade the workforce, Myers writes, they will operate 24 hours per day, “three times more than an average human worker, making them especially attractive for companies.”
Social Fabric Disrupted
Will widespread adoption of AI and humanoid robots over the next decade mean young families will see their dreams shattered? Will it make it harder to start a family, build wealth, own a home, and give their kids a future?
Will it imperil the social contract between government and citizens? Without income, there will be no income tax. Without income tax, government programs will have to be cancelled. Without income, families will be unable to spend, and without this spending, the economy of nations will be seriously imperilled. Peter Diamandis describes the outcome, stating, “A generation without economic footing is a generation without a stake in the stability of the system.”
Can Governments Create Answers?
Like America’s GI Bill and Canada’s Veterans Rehabilitation Act, where governments invented new programs to bridge the transition from war to peace, similar ingenuity is required to address an AI and humanoid robot-dominated economic future.
One solution could be a universal basic income (UBI) for all. Why would a UBI be a better government investment than addressing the coming mass unemployment through job protection schemes, public works and retraining programs? Because the AI revolution is not a one-time thing. The kind of programs that worked for the GI Bill will only delay the inevitable, as the nature of work and social fabric are altered permanently.
In Part 2, we will explore the humanoid robot’s impacts further. In addition, we will look at existing and possible UBI programs and what governments will need to do to make all of this work.
