This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge.
At the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, DeepSeek senior researcher Chen Deli made a rare public appearance late last week, warning that artificial intelligence could wipe out most jobs within the next 10 to 20 years. For our readers, this warning sounds very familiar; we’ve been highlighting the same “jobpocalypse” scenario for years, including in our March 2023 report, “AI Will Lead to 300 Million Layoffs in the U.S. and Europe.”
“This will shake society to its core,” Deli told the audience at the state-backed industry conference last Friday.
He urged AI companies to act as “whistleblowers,” warning the public about the massive labor disruptions ahead.
Deli described the current period as a “honeymoon phase“, a brief window where AI enhances productivity without replacing too many workers, but cautioned that once it ends, mass job losses will begin to accelerate.
He added, “Tech companies should play the role of guardians of humanity, at the very least, protecting human safety, then helping to reshape societal order.”
DeepSeek’s labor market warning comes amid worsening youth unemployment and a lackluster post-pandemic economic recovery in China. Official figures show youth unemployment peaked at 21.3% in mid-2023 before authorities halted publication of the data.
Founded in 2023, DeepSeek jolted the stock market earlier this year, especially AI US stocks, after unveiling a low-cost model that is at a fraction of the cost of ChatGPT’s o1.
In the U.S., the latest Challenger, Gray & Christmas jobs data showed that AI-related job losses have already begun.
Here’s a snippet from the report:
- In October alone, Cost-Cutting was the top reason employers cited for job reductions, responsible for 50,437 announced layoffs. Artificial Intelligence (AI) was the second-most cited factor, leading to 31,039 job cuts as companies continue to restructure and automate. AI has been cited for 48,414 job cuts this year.
In mid-October, UBS analyst Nana Antiedu cited Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin’s remarks at the Aiken Chamber of Commerce in South Carolina, which revealed that AI’s impact on the labor market is already underway.
Circling back to our March 2023 report outlining the incoming jobpocalypse…
What’s critical in the U.S. is that Gen Z and millennials are not only financially strained but also stand to be hit hardest by the coming wave of AI-driven job losses. The Trump administration must recognize this and, to counter the disruption, focus on creating real opportunities and restoring affordability for these generations. If it fails, there’s a growing risk that these cohorts will be sucked into socialist and Marxist movements within the Democratic Party, which promise voters “free stuff” while squandering the nation’s inheritance toward collapse.
Affordability and opportunity, particularly for the youth, will be major political themes in the year ahead.