Vyacheslav Golovkov
These numbers will make you wake up in a cold sweat.
43%. That’s how many people worldwide seriously fear that artificial intelligence will leave them jobless in the next two years. These aren’t just statistics—they’re an epidemic of fear sweeping the planet.
Every morning, millions of people open the news and read scary headlines: “AI will replace programmers,” “ChatGPT is killing copywriting,” “Neural networks are leaving lawyers without bread.” The information landscape has become a torture chamber, where technological progress plays the role of executioner.
Anthropologists chuckle quietly on the sidelines. The reason why fear of new technologies is as old as humanity. There was once a similar fear of printing (“people will stop remembering information!”), steam engines (“factories will put artisans out of work!”), and computers (“all the accountants will be laid off!”).
By the way, printing didn’t change memory. It freed it up for the truly important things.
True, this is being hidden behind headlines
Let’s be honest: AI is really advancing. The “Anthropic Shock” study reveals a figure: 75% of programming tasks can already be performed by neural networks. 66% of Russian teachers and scientists regularly use AI in their work. This was reported by the ITMO and Yandex administration. Employees from 16 Russian universities, who combine teaching with research, participated in the study.
But there’s a nuance that’s somehow being promoted in the headlines: AI can’t do the most important thing—take responsibility.
A Harvard Business School experiment involving 750 Procter & Gamble employees proved to be obvious, yet somehow unstoppable: an AI-enabled team performs better than regular humans. But non-AI-enabled humans showed cheaper results than AI-enabled humans.
In other words, the winner isn’t the one who works instead of AI, nor the one who works without AI. The winner is the one who works alongside AI.
Cases worth showing to the panic-stricken
Let’s take Unilever. A multinational giant, 400 brands, millions of CVs per year. The company implemented AI-based candidate screening. It would seem so plausible — machines have come to take over HR. Well, in reality: AI takes over the initial screening, while humans conduct the final interviews.
Result: a 75% reduction in hiring time, 50,000 interview hours saved annually, and over £1 million in savings.
People didn’t drop out. People stopped drowning in paperwork and started doing real recruiting.
Motel Rocks, a fashion brand, implemented an AI chatbot for customer support. Result: the bot resolves 43% of inquiries, but difficult situations arise with humans. Customer satisfaction increased by 9.44%.
And then a powerful combination emerges: a bot solves the problem quickly, a human solves the problem with empathy, and the result we achieve in this symbiosis is a near-perfect result.
ImaginAb, a biotech company, automated invoice processing. AI took over the routine, while humans handled oversight and exceptions. The result: 1,750 hours of manual labor disappeared, but no one was fired. The accountants simply stopped working nights.
A subtle point the corporation kept silent about
But not everything is so rosy: anthropic anxiety is striking a nerve. The most vulnerable group is young people aged 22-25. Their hiring for positions focused on developing innovations has plummeted by 14%.
Why? Technology doesn’t fire seniors en masse. It simply stops hiring newcomers. Seniors with experience are given AI as a superpower. Juniors, who should have gained this experience, are left behind.
This is the real problem. And I decided that it wasn’t bans or panic, but a restructuring of education.
What to do? (Constructive, non-pedantic)
Lawmakers in several European countries are already considering this. The Artificial Intelligence Act introduced the concept of human oversight—a “human in the loop.” The idea is simple: high-risk AI systems may have a human on staff who can say “no.”
In 2025, Cambridge University Press conducted a study that clearly stated: human oversight isn’t just a matter of form. It requires three things: error and bias control; accountability (AI lacks this); empathy; and context.
And finally, it’s important to understand that not everything can be programmed. Only a human can tell the truth, not dry statistics like AI. For example, a fact like “The child died” is based on a multitude of complex circumstances, but for AI, it’s just data.
Education: Reboot
ETS and aiEDU announced a global collaboration in January 2026. Their thesis: “AI literacy is not about how to use tools.” This is about developing judgment, agency, and the ability to thrive alongside AI.”
A study of 32,000 people in 18 countries found that 28% of respondents believe it’s essential to introduce soft skills in school.
And the Double-Helix Logic of Curriculum theory proposes dividing education into two tracks:
1. Standard: what everyone needs (digital literacy, ethics, fundamentals);
2. Coding: developing each person’s greatest strengths.
The idea is that machines will do the standard. Humans will do the unique. And together, they will develop unique expertise.
And now for the main question!
Are you still afraid that AI will take your job?
Or are you ready to admit: the problem isn’t with the machines, but with us. With our unwillingness to learn new things. With our habit of delegating not only routine tasks, but also responsibility. In our laziness, which demands that someone else do our thinking for us.
ManpowerGroup’s Global Talent Barometer 2026 revealed a paradox: AI use increased by 13%, while confidence in our skills fell by 18%. People are mastering technology faster, but mastering themselves more slowly.
56% of workers receive no training from their employers. We expect others to teach us, but we must teach ourselves.
What exactly should be done?
For the government: enshrine the “human-in-the-loop” concept in legislation; introduce mandatory certification of AI products with human oversight; restructure education: not “how to use AI,” but “what AI can never do for you.”
For businesses: Stop skimping on training. 56% of no training means 56% of future problems; implement HITL (Human-in-the-Loop) as a standard, not an option; understand that automating routine tasks doesn’t mean firing people, it frees them up for complex tasks.
For ourselves: stop asking, “Will AI replace my profession?” Ask, “What part of my work will AI take over so I can focus on what’s truly important?”
We need to learn. Always learn. The 1,750 hours saved by the ImaginAb accountant aren’t a reason to panic. They’re a reason to learn Spanish or finally write that book.
And it’s important to remember: AI lacks empathy, conscience, and fear of error. This makes us indispensable precisely to the extent that we maintain and develop these qualities.
In Lieu of an Epilogue
A PNAS study published in January 2026 revealed something surprising: perceiving AI as a worker replacement reduces trust in democracy and political engagement.
People who fear losing their jobs to technology lose faith in institutions and stop participating in society.
It’s a vicious cycle. Fear breeds apathy. Apathy breeds inaction. Inaction hands over control to those who don’t ask our opinion.
The only way to break this cycle is to stop being passengers and become pilots.
AI won’t come and say, “Get out of the seat.” It will say, “Do you want to learn to fly faster?”
And here, the choice is yours…
Kirill Benediktov
Robert Reich
Alexander Burenkov
