More than three years into the AI era, the predictions of an AI job apocalypse are still coming fast and furious. Here are reasons to be more optimistic.

Harvard economist and researcher David Deming studies technology and the future of work. He’s dug into technological shifts of the past for clues about what might happen to the U.S. labor market now, and he’s even quantified the rapid rate of adoption of generative AI.

Deming doubts AI will cause a jobs apocalypse, but he does believe things will change. He tells us his ideas for how we can AI-proof our jobs.

Note: this conversation was originally recorded in the summer of 2025.

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