AI Won't Take Your Job—But Someone Using AI Will

The AI job apocalypse hasn't happened. Two years into the ChatGPT era, unemployment remains low and most jobs still exist. But something subtler is occurring: a productivity gap is opening between AI adopters and holdouts.

In creative fields, writers using AI assistance produce 3x more content at similar quality. Designers iterate faster. Developers ship code quicker. These aren't job losses—they're productivity gains that make AI-assisted workers more valuable. Companies are noticing; job postings increasingly list "AI proficiency" as a requirement.

The concerning part is the skill floor rising. Tasks that used to require years of experience are now achievable by juniors with AI assistance. Senior developers who refuse to use AI copilots find themselves outpaced by adaptable juniors. The message is clear: AI competency is becoming as fundamental as computer literacy was 20 years ago.