The artificial intelligence boom has fueled grand promises: Cures for cancer, self-driving metropolises, and even interplanetary travel. It’s also powered a stock market surge that’s padded plenty of retirement accounts. But beneath the optimism, entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang says a far more immediate disruption is underway—and the U.S. is not ready for it.
“I believe that millions of white-collar workers are going to lose their jobs in the next 12 to 18 months due to AI,” Yang said in an Instagram video that’s garnered over 600,000 views.
“AI is now able to do the work of a very, very smart human in minutes or even seconds. This is going to displace marketers, coders, designers, lawyers, accountants, call center workers—you name it.”
Yang joins a chorus of business leaders—from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to Ford CEO Jim Farley—warning about the nightmare that could be coming for white-collar workers. However, the economic fallout in reality could reach far beyond officeworkers.
“When people lose their jobs, it affects dry cleaners, dog walkers, hairstylists, restaurants—all local businesses that see less people who are able to spend. Personal bankruptcies are going to surge,” Yang added.
The end result, the 51-year-old said, will be a more extreme winner-take-all economy, where the path to social mobility and middle-class status is “broken.”
“The AI job apocalypse is real,” Yang said. “It’s underway right now.”
Elon Musk and Sam Altman agree with Andrew Yang’s universal income stance
Yang has been sounding alarms about automation for years. While running for president in the 2020 campaign cycle, he made universal basic income the centerpiece of his platform, proposing $1,000 a month for every American over 18 in order to mitigate impending job automation.
As generative AI has moved from research labs into the mainstream, he has only intensified that warning.
“Millions of people could lose their job in America,” Yang told Fortune in 2023, when asked about the negative risks of AI. “We should reckon with what the human effects are. If we don’t have meaningful countermeasures or ways to help people transition, then we should be diligent about safeguarding people during what could be a very rocky period.”
But what once sounded fringe is continuing to get support among many top business leaders.
Responding to billionaire Michael Dell’s plan to fund investment accounts for newborns, Elon Musk wrote on X: “There will be no poverty in the future and so no need to save money… there will be universal high income.”
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and the force behind ChatGPT, has also expressed openness to a guaranteed income program.
“I used to be really excited about things like UBI,” Altman said on the This Past Weekend podcast last year. “I still am kind of excited, like, universal basic income, where you just give everybody money.”
Degrees used to be a shield against volatility. Yang says that’s changing
For decades, higher education has been sold as the safest hedge against economic disruption. As manufacturing jobs disappeared and the digital economy took off, the answer was to go to college and learn how to code.
But Yang argued that AI is undermining that formula. The traditional education premium—the wage boost that comes with a degree—has already begun to shrink, with the unemployment rate of college graduates on the rise. As fewer graduates see a clear return on their investment, it’s likely dozens, or even hundreds, of more colleges will shut their doors, he said.
“If you’re weighing going back to school or sending your child in this direction, question the cost of the degree heavily, as the cost-benefit is changing—for the worse—in real time,” Yang wrote on his Substack this week. “If it’s low-cost, vocational or top-tier, you’re fine. If it’s expensive and doesn’t lead to a concrete opportunity… maybe re-examine it.”
And while he does not think AI will mark the end of going to college altogether, there is a growing need to develop soft skills—like grit and communication—throughout an education experience rather than focusing on getting high grades.
“Employers might want to hire people who are consistently delightful or tough, which doesn’t necessarily map to SAT scores,” Yang said. “So being a high-performing athlete, a talented singer, dancer, actor, or the head of student government could be more important than how smart you are.”
Do you have a white-collar job, like as an accountant or lawyer, but are worried about the future of the work? Email preston.fore@fortune.com.
