This isn’t a political argument; it’s a mechanical one, based on two undeniable inputs:
- Input 1: The Iron Law of the Market. Every business is relentlessly compelled by competition to reduce costs and increase efficiency. This is not optional.
- Input 2: A New Form of Labor.
- Human Labor: Costs roughly $30 per hour, learns slowly, and needs sleep.
- Digital Labor: Costs roughly $0.30 per hour and is falling, learns exponentially, and never sleeps.
The Engine’s Unstoppable Process
The machine operates in a simple, repeating cycle:
- Substitution: A business compares the two labor types and picks the one that is approximately 100 times cheaper and globally scalable with a click.
- The “Verifier” Trap: The role of a human verifier paired with AI is transitional. The verifier’s job is to check AI output, effectively training the AI until the verifier is no longer needed. They are engineering their own obsolescence.
- Autonomous Operation: The cycle completes when the system no longer needs a human in the loop. The text refers to this as the “Zuckerberg Moment,” citing his plan to fully automate advertising on Meta’s platforms.
This engine is now pointed directly at the heart of the white-collar economy.
The Burden of Proof Has Inverted
The burden of proof no longer lies with those who support the Discontinuity Thesis. It lies with the optimists.
Vague appeals to “human creativity” or “new jobs” are insufficient. The historical pattern of workers moving to more complex tasks breaks down when AI automates cognition itself. The challenge is simple: Show us the jobs.
Show us specific, named job categories that can:
- Absorb tens of millions of displaced workers.
- Pay a living wage.
- Remain structurally immune to the same automation force replacing today’s jobs.
If you cannot produce this plan, you concede the point.
Conclusion
The economic circuit that powered society for 75 years, where mass labor earns wages to become mass consumers, is being mechanically severed. The machine is bankrupting its own customer base. This is not a malfunction. It is the system functioning as designed.
The only conversation left is not whether to believe the thesis, but what we intend to do about its consequences.
