Lady Madonna, Who Will Pay the Rent?: The Looming AI Jobpocalpyse

I was inspired to write this story by the tumultuous events at CBS News last week, which resulted in the high profile firings of several key members of the 60 Minutes staff, including longtime correspondent, Scott Pelley. The internal intrigue spilled out onto the world stage, when details leaked about the fiery staff meeting in which Pelley told his new boss that he wasn't qualified to run their team. Then, he did a lengthy podcast interview with the New York Times, in which he disputed the network's side of things, while spilling the tea and a whole ocean of emotions, about why this was such a shock, loss, and source of immense sadness. Now, you can debate all day long about whether or not somebody who openly confronts their boss in a staff meeting has any right to quibble about what happens next, but what is undeniable; is that whenever you lose a job that you really love, or even hate but need to pay the rent; it will massively disrupt your life, least for awhile–and maybe longer–if you're not lucky. But what if it isn't about luck at all?  What if happens by design, as we are seeing with big tech companies pushing business and government to replace human workers with AI? What if the kinds of mass layoffs that have become commonplace in the tech industry over the past 18 months become commonplace enough in other business sectors to destabilize society, and tank the economy? So, that's where today’s special guest, Time Worthy Media Founder, and Tech Journalist, Ian Sherr, comes in.  He is both well-qualified, and uniquely positioned to offer insight on how industrial revolutions have affected society in the past, and how this new one might play out in the future. He also has some personal skin in the game, as one of his most recent gigs was with CBS News Radio, which  ceased to exist a couple of weeks ago, after the very same management team that fired Scott Pelley, shut down the company’s entire radio news division, which had been in operation for nearly 100 years. Listen now.