The Bull Case

Given the tumble in the stock market - along with relentless AI doomerism - I thought it best to kick off this week with the bull case for AI (for jobs, the economy and society).  

There’s a lot we don’t know about our tech-driven future, but here are three (good news) certainties:

 1. AI job collaboration (vs. replacement) will dominate for the next few years

At TalentGenius, we now have 4.5 million tech workers and the top 2,000+ enterprise AI tools and agents on our platform. We've mapped human skills to these emerging "digital workers," and the takeaway is clear: even as AI grows more powerful, it still covers only a subset of the capabilities needed in most roles. The future isn't human or AI—it's human and AI.

Many reading this will remember the introduction of laptops and smartphones. Did we work fewer hours? Ha, big joke. We just produced more with the same hours. The productivity treadmill accelerated, and we all ran faster.

AI follows this pattern. Over the next three years, it won't eliminate your job—it'll amplify it. The winners won't flee the machines; they'll learn to harness them.

2. The infrastructure buildout is massive

The current AI buildout dwarfs past national undertakings—including the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Interstate Highway System—and is set to deliver significant economic stimulus in the years ahead.  For example:

• Data Centers: U.S. investments are set to exceed $1 trillion over the next five years. Microsoft alone is putting in $80B.

• Power Infrastructure:  Powering new data centers will take as much energy as 30 Los Angeleses. Major investments are already underway, with tens of billions being committed by firms such as KKR, Chevron and GE.

• Chips & Fabs: Announced investments in the US include $100+ billion commitments each from TSMC, Nvidia and Apple. 

3. We are starting solve big societal problems with AI

No, we haven’t hit “peak humanity” yet. (Been to the DMV lately?)  But AI is starting to move the needle on major societal challenges:

• Healthcare: From early cancer detection to faster drug discovery

• Education: AI tutors creating 1:1 learning paths at scale

• Agriculture: Precision farming, crop monitoring, and smarter supply chains

So yes, while your 401k might feel more like a 301k this week, there’s still plenty of reason for optimism.