n the United States, job demographic data from censuses since the 1900s reveal a

startling fact. Despite the two post-Industrial revolutions of electricity and

computers, the occupations with the largest employment numbers are still jobs for
drivers, retail, cashiers, secretaries, janitors etc, i.e. old professions needing
simple skills and mostly repetitive work. This lack of transition to �newer� jobs
is a global phenomenon, especially in the global south. India, for example, has
half of the working population doing agriculture.

One must grasp the significance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in this context.
Unlike technological upheavals of the past, AI is unique in that it can rather
cheaply replace a vast spectrum of mental, creative, and intuitive human labour.
With AI presiding over the mass extinction of repetitive jobs, precisely the sort
employing the most workers, no precedent exists of newer jobs replacing them in
large enough numbers.

There is no dearth of alarmist narratives around AI. But the �danger� of AI isn�t
that it will become hostile, or follow its instructions with such a literal
interpretation and on such a scale that human existence itself be jeopardised.
Science-fiction scenarios of rampant AI are interesting thought-experiments but
already-existing AI is here, and requires well-crafted policy.