Mikluscak 1

Luke Mikluscak

ENC1102

Rhetorical Analysis of – “200k Layoffs, AI Revolution, Is It Over For Programmers?”

The rapid development of AI technology throughout recent years has shaken up the tech

industry and created a difficult obstacle for industry experts to face. In addition, no one can

accurately predict the impact this “AI revolution” will have on the computer science industry, as

well as what that means for the rest of society. The earliest traces of artificial intelligence date

back to the nineteen-forties where computer theorists first proposed the idea of machines being

able to think in a way indistinguishable from a human. Artificial intelligence technology

ultimately lacked computing power and had limitations on solving complex real-world problems,

until the concept of machine learning was introduced. Machine learning technology allowed

computers to continuously learn and create better algorithms to solve problems and detect

patterns such as: speech recognition, image processing, and recommendation systems. AI

technology witnessed a resurgence in the 21st century, leading to breakthroughs within the tech

industry. Today, AI is and was already integrated deep within the technology we use within our

daily lives. Though, the rate at which consumers are being exposed to generative AI technology

increases every day, with open-access platforms such as ChatGPT and DALL – E. With such

powerful technology easily accessible to most of the world’s population, industries and people

are growing concerned regarding the future of this technology. Of these industries, the computer

science field and programming careers will no doubt undergo a drastic change. Computer

programmer Aaron Jack attempts to analyze how AI technology may affect the tech field, as well

as the opportunities it provides, in his video titled, “200k Layoffs, AI Revolution, Is It Over For

Programmers?”
 Mikluscak 1

Aaron Jack graduated from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and

currently works as a full-time computer software engineer. He has extensive experience with

computer programming – even launching a successful freelance coding website called Freemote.

On occasion, Jack enjoys creating content for his YouTube channel Aaron Jack, to give his

audience greater insight into tech industry news as well as industry effective coding practices.

With his computer science background and business-oriented mindset, Aaron Jack in his video,

takes a supportive stance on AI technology emphasizing how it might not spell disaster for

coders.

The video presents very compelling information for my research, expanding on my first

perspective which attempts to explore the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the career

market and job opportunities – especially computer scientists. Aaron Jack presents the

information in the video with a problem-solution structure in mind – offering analytical data and

deductive reasoning to support his claims. He leaves the viewer with a strong sense of

encouragement after arguing why AI technology won’t be as negatively impactful as people

think. In fact, he claims that artificial intelligence will provide people withing the coding

industry and possibly other markets with more opportunities to find success. There is a

possibility that Aaron Jack is biased in his argument since artificial intelligence will have a direct

impact on his professional career and thus, adopting a positive stance towards this technology

gives him a greater sense of comfort regarding the future stability of his profession.

Society’s general attitude towards artificial intelligence appears to be fundamentally

negative. There’s an underlying fear held among consumers no doubt attributed to pop culture.

Films such as The Matrix and Terminator have contributed to the idea of artificial intelligence

being the ultimate threat humanity must face in the future. Aaron Jack even uses an analogy of
 Mikluscak 1

the famous red and blue pills to spark attention for his argument. The reality is people won’t get

to choose anything. Corporations and the big tech companies aren’t going to pass up the

opportunity to discover new profit markets in AI technology. Though, that doesn’t help our case

and our ambivalence towards artificial intelligence. Programmers are already faced with the

potential scenario of losing their careers. Aaron Jack even describes the advanced nature of AI

tools such as ChatGPT to present his audience with more uneasiness. He elaborates how an

individual attempting to learn the programming language python would normally take between

three to four months to become familiar with the basic practical uses. Python could take years to

fully understand all its concepts and gain complete “mastery. With ChatGPT’s technology, an

individual with minimal or no coding experience could create programs that would’ve taken

them months or years of practice (Jack). However, he only frames his argument by addressing all

the negativity to disprove the claims held among members of society. According to Jack, AI tools

are in no capacity to completely replace the need for human intuition and creativity in coding

design (Jack), giving his fellow computer scientist some ease. He deconstructs the controversy

and examines the technology through a different lens. There’s no point in consciously avoiding

AI technology, especially all the utility and opportunity it has. Jack wants his audience to

capitalize on AI’s current state of infancy. His publication timeframe is very convenient for his

audience since artificial intelligence could potentially change someone’s life.

Jack begins his argument by introducing the controversy surrounding artificial

intelligence by referencing the massive layoffs consisting of almost two hundred thousand tech

industry workers (0:04), in addition to software job listings being down twenty-four percent

(0:08). It’s important to understand that those layoffs consist of all workers within the tech

industry – not just computer engineers and software engineers. Jack argues that the media often
 Mikluscak 1

frames its information in a certain way to raise public debate and increase engagement on

purpose. Analytics from Yahoo.com might prove to be a more accurate portrayal of the current

situation. For instance, most companies are currently hiring three to ten times the number of

employees compared to the estimated number of layoffs (0:54). Companies are willing to make a

risky investment knowing that a massive demand for electronic devices and new technologies

exists. However, the development of new AI technologies has forced the big tech companies to

reevaluate their current plans and create new business models to remain competitive within the

changing market.

Jack addresses how a negativity bias towards artificial intelligence might be present

within our society, possibly explaining why some of us developed such a defensive stance. The

American Psychological Association describes negativity bias as a behavior where negative

personality traits tend to play a greater role than positive personality traits. In short, people are

just more inclined to be affected by bad news. This explains why consumers are so quick to react

to the distressing news published by mass media and social influencers, who generate more

publicity via “clicks” (2:12). Jack argues that the media is falsely inflating the impact artificial

intelligence will have on society, and most of this technology has been around far longer than the

average consumer realizes (2:43). The main issue at hand is the lack of knowledge regarding

certain topics – especially AI, which allows people to be easily coerced into what limited

information the media or society presents.

There appears to be a common trend between the discovery of new breakthroughs in

technology and public skepticism. In fact, Jack states that “every time in history a large

productivity breakthrough hits the software industry, it’s created an explosion of jobs and wealth

and not a contraction” (3:10). When the C programming language was released in the early
 Mikluscak 1

nineteen seventies, people faced a similar dilemma – where they were afraid of how much faster

computer systems could be developed with the new code. Nowadays, every computer software

engineer is familiar with C. It just became fundamental or common knowledge to coders. When

cloud computing was introduced – think Google, Microsoft 365, or Dropbox, many assumed that

it would be the end for companies with dedicated physical servers. Instead, it caused a massive

expansion in the coding industry, offering more job opportunities than prior to its creation. These

are only a few tech-related innovations that have broadened the work force, improved worker

efficiency, and provided economic growth. Jack’s point is that we shouldn’t stress over what this

technology will do, but rather how we can use it to benefit ourselves. “The people who are going

to capitalize on the AI revolution” will discover untapped potential already existing with AI

technology, waiting to be uncovered (5:20).

It appears the development of AI technology will only continue to grow now that tech

companies understand the amount of potential and undiscovered applications that can change our

lives. Aaron Jack claims that it could possibly be self-destructive to not utilize the technology

artificial intelligence offers, especially since it’s so new. Jack reasons that there’s just too much

latent potential offered in AI tools to completely avoid. The analysis has offered me greater

insight into my first perspective, which has been supported by an examination of AI’s historical

trajectory as well as its evolving discourse. The integration of AI in various industries will create

new career avenues for those in the computer science field as well as other professions. The

demand for workers with skills and experience with this new technology is expected to rise with

time. Artificial intelligence is reshaping the professional landscape of computer science, and

those who recognize its potential will thrive in their future pursuits.
 Mikluscak 1

Works Cited

Aaron Jack, “200k Layoffs, AI Revolution, Is it Over for Programmers?” Aaron Jack, YouTube,

Mar 23, 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SnxuVkFB9I&t=84s

American Psychological Association, “APA Dictionary of Psychology.”

https://dictionary.apa.org/trait-negativity-bias

Max Roser, “The brief history of artificial intelligence: The world has changed fast – what might

be next?” Our World in Data, University of Oxford, Dec 6, 2022,

https://ourworldindata.org/brief-history-of-ai