Charles' Podcast

The AI revolution affecting the workforce and the economy and shaping the future

Tech Giants 11/21/2025

AI Employment Crossroads 11/19/2025

AI Employment Crossroads Welcome to 'Market Pulse,' where we break down the signals shaping our economy. Today, we're talking about a stark warning from the one person, you know, everyone in finance listens to. Right. Fed Chair Jerome Powell. That's right, Alex. And the message was, uh, surprisingly blunt. Powell said that if you look past the headline numbers and adjust for statistical noise... Hmm. ...quote, 'job creation is pretty close to zero.' It's a huge statement. It suggests the US labor market is like a car that looks freshly polished but has an engine that's... well, quietly sputtering. Yeah. And Powell didn't mince words about the cause. Right. Artificial Intelligence. He said that in conversations with CEOs, the theme is consistent. Okay. They are investing heavily in AI, and it's allowing them to do more with fewer people. And we're seeing it in the real world... Wow. ...Amazon recently cut 14,000 manager roles. A report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas found over 17,000 layoffs this year have been explicitly tied to AI. This creates what Powell described as a 'very difficult' dilemma for the Fed. Hmm. Ben, can you walk us through the two sides of that problem? Absolutely. So, think of the Fed having to manage two opposing forces. Okay. Force number one is a potential inflationary boom. Companies are spending billions on AI infrastructure... Right. ...you know, data centers, servers, software. This spending grows the economy, but it also risks driving up inflation. Yeah. And the normal tool for that is to keep interest rates *high*. Okay, so that's one side. What's the opposing force? The opposing force is the very thing we started with. Right. The 'Great Freeze' in hiring. The same AI that's fueling that investment boom is also automating tasks and... and eliminating the need for new hires. Hmm. Especially in entry-level white-collar jobs. This weakness in the labor market would normally make the Fed want to *cut* interest rates to encourage hiring. So the tool to fight inflation—high rates—could make the job market even worse. Exactly. And the tool to help the job market—low rates—could let inflation run hot. Right. They're caught in a policy trap, created entirely by this new wave of technology. Exactly. And Powell was quick to point out this isn't the dot-com bubble all over again. Okay. He said today’s big tech companies 'actually have earnings.' This isn’t just speculative hype... Right. ...it’s a fundamental change in how our economy operates. And this change is hitting the newest members of the workforce the hardest. Yeah. The article notes that unemployment among recent college grads is topping 5%, and many are choosing to go back to graduate school. Hmm. Essentially taking a... a strategic timeout from a dismal job market. It’s a profound shift. For decades, the assumption was that a growing economy meant growing employment. Right. AI is challenging that core economic relationship. The Fed's recent quarter-point rate cut, citing those 'downside risks to employment,' feels less like a solution... Hmm. ...and more like a nervous first step into uncharted territory. It leaves us with a difficult question, not just for the Fed, but... but for all of us. Yeah. As technology makes our economy more productive, how do we ensure that prosperity is shared broadly? Now, here's a question we'd like you to think about: If AI can create immense economic value while reducing the need for human jobs, what should be the primary goal of economic policy—maximizing growth or ensuring widespread employment? /episode/index/show/e67082ba-cebb-4f52-9678-eb93821c5db4/id/38957680

"AI Ethics Alert: The Sora 2 Controversy" 11/15/2025

AI revolution, new jobs on the horizon 11/13/2025

AI revolution, new jobs on the horizon Welcome to "AI Revolution," the podcast exploring how artificial intelligence is changing our world in real-time. I’m Alex. And I’m Ben. Today, we’re digging into a topic that’s... well, it's on everyone’s mind: Hmm. AI and the job market. Alex, the headlines are everywhere—robots are coming for our jobs. But... the real story seems to be a lot more nuanced. It really is. I mean, while the fear of job displacement is real, Yeah. There’s this fascinating flip side to the coin that a recent Washington Post article dives into. AI isn't just a job destroyer; Right. It's a job *creator*. But, you know, these aren't your typical jobs. No, not at all. We’re talking about titles that sound like they were pulled from a sci-fi movie. Have you ever heard of a 'knowledge architect'? Wow. Or an 'AI Orchestration Engineer'? Or my personal favorite, a 'Human-AI Collaboration Lead.' It sounds so abstract. Yeah? But companies like Salesforce, Walmart, and KPMG are hiring for these roles *right now*. This isn't some... distant future; Hmm. It’s the new reality of the 2025 job market. You know, it reminds me of the early days of the internet. If you told someone in 1995 that 'Social Media Manager' would be a legitimate career, Right. They would have looked at you sideways. Research from LinkedIn shows that... what is it... about 20% of today’s professional jobs didn't even exist in the year 2000. Wow. And AI is just hitting the accelerator on that trend. Exactly. Okay, so let's break down some of these new roles. Okay. because they tell a powerful story about where work is headed. The article groups them into a few areas. First up: User Experience. Ah. This is all about making AI usable and... and even enjoyable for humans. So this is where a role like 'AI Conversation Designer' comes in, right? What do they... what do they actually do? So, think of them as a blend of a psychologist and a creative writer for AI. They design the flow, the language, and even the personality of an AI assistant... Hmm. to make it engaging and genuinely helpful. They're the ones making sure the chatbot you're talking to doesn't sound like a soulless machine. So it’s about crafting the *feel* of the interaction. That makes sense. And what about that 'Knowledge Architect' title? It sounds very... grand. It’s a crucial role. A knowledge architect is an expert responsible for shaping *what* an AI agent knows. Okay. They structure all the information and the context the AI needs to perform its tasks accurately and reliably. In essence, Right. They're the librarians and the... the curriculum designers for an AI's brain, making sure it reflects the business's actual knowledge. So one person designs the AI’s personality, and the other designs its intelligence. That’s a fascinating division of labor. What about the roles that manage how we, Mmm. You know, the workers adapt to all this? That brings us to the business operations side, and that 'Human-AI Collaboration Lead.' This role isn’t technical in the coding sense. Okay. It's strategic. This person defines how human teams and AI systems can best work together to hit business goals. Right. It's about change management, organizational design... and building trust. That role feels so vital. It’s the human bridge. You can't just airdrop powerful AI tools into a company and expect everything to work. Exactly. You need someone to shepherd that integration, to make sure it empowers people instead of frustrating them. It shows that so-called 'soft skills' are becoming mission-critical. Absolutely. And then you have the deeply technical roles. Let's talk about the 'Orchestration Engineer.' Ben, Okay. What does that sound like to you? It sounds like a conductor of a symphony. That's the perfect analogy. A business might use dozens of different specialized AI agents—one for data analysis, one for customer service, and one for content. The orchestration engineer is the conductor who makes sure all these different AI instruments play together in harmony. Wow. They connect everything, set the rules, and make sure the whole system is reliable and safe. So, when you look at all these roles together—the Conversation Designer, the Collaboration Lead, the Orchestration Engineer— Yeah. A clear picture emerges. The future of work isn't a battle of humans *versus* AI. No. It’s about creating a new class of jobs centered on managing, guiding, and collaborating *with* AI. It's a fundamental shift. We're moving from just *using* tools to actively *partnering* with them. The skills in demand are a blend of technical fluency, strategic thinking, and a deep understanding of human behavior. Hmm. The human element is becoming the premium. This reframes the entire conversation from one of fear to one of opportunity and adaptation. It’s not about if you’ll be replaced, Right. but how your role will evolve and what new skills you might learn to thrive in this new landscape. And it’s happening faster than any of us expected. The jobs of tomorrow are already on the hiring boards of today. Now, here’s a question we'd like you to think about: If you could invent a new job for yourself that involves collaborating with AI, what would the title be, and what would be the single most important task you'd do? /episode/index/show/e67082ba-cebb-4f52-9678-eb93821c5db4/id/38934575

The AI cold war 11/13/2025

Tech Shift 11/10/2025

AI revolution, new jobs on the horizon 11/08/2025

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