The Great Termination: Why the Next 7 Years Will Redefine Human Work Forever

We keep hearing it. "AI will enhance jobs, not replace them." It's the same reassuring mantra repeated by CEOs, consultants, and optimists everywhere. But I've spent the past three years building AI applications in voice and chat as a Chief AI Officer. I've watched the technology evolve from impressive to devastating. And I need to tell you something nobody wants to hear:

They're lying to you. Or worse, they actually believe it.

The "AI will enhance not replace" narrative is exactly like saying automobiles would enhance horses, not replace them. Sure, technically true in the narrowest sense, some horses still exist. But we didn't need 20 million horses in 1900 to become 20 million "enhanced" horses in 1950. We needed about 3 million. The other 17 million? Gone.

Except this time, you're the horse.

The Numbers Don't Lie, They Scream

October 2025 just became the worst month for job cuts in over 20 years. Companies announced 153,074 layoffs, almost triple the same month last year. This isn't a blip. This isn't a correction. This is the beginning.

By July 2025, over 130,000 tech workers had already lost their jobs. The year isn't even over and we've seen more than 806,000 total job cuts announced, the highest figure since 2020. But here's what should terrify you: these aren't struggling companies. Microsoft posted $70.1 billion in revenue (up 13%) while cutting 15,000 jobs. Cisco reported a 5% revenue increase and then laid off hundreds. Intel is eliminating 15% of its entire global workforce, not because they're failing, but because they're "optimizing."

The pattern is clear: profit is up, humans are out.

What's Really Happening Behind the Press Releases

Let me give you the translation guide for corporate-speak:

When Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says AI will lead to a "reduction in corporate workforce," he's not talking about restructuring. He's talking about 14,000 middle managers being shown the door.

When Microsoft mentions GitHub Copilot writing 30% of new code, they're explaining why they don't need thousands of engineers anymore.

When IBM says they're "modernizing workflows," what they mean is they fired 8,000 HR employees and replaced them with an AI chatbot called AskHR.

When Meta cuts 600 employees from its AI unit to "operate more nimbly," they're admitting that AI teams are building the very systems that eliminate the need for AI teams.

The irony would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

This Isn't About Technology, It's About Survival

Goldman Sachs just released survey data that should make your blood run cold. Right now, only 11% of companies are actively cutting employees due to AI. But over the next three years? They're predicting an 11% reduction in headcount across industries. Financial institutions could see 14% of their workforce disappear.

Entry-level positions, the traditional starting point for careers, are being decimated. Why hire a junior analyst when AI can do data collection, transcription, and basic visualization for the cost of a software subscription?

The companies making these cuts aren't struggling. They're thriving. And that's the most terrifying part. We're not talking about a recession forcing painful cuts. We're talking about profitable companies choosing to eliminate humans because algorithms are cheaper, faster, and don't need healthcare.

The Seven-Year Window

Based on current AI development trajectories and expert predictions, we have approximately seven years before Artificial Superintelligence fundamentally reshapes civilization. Seven years before the systems we're building become sophisticated enough that the question isn't "which jobs will AI take?" but rather "which jobs will AI leave?"

I've been tracking this professionally. I wrote about these exact scenarios. And what I'm seeing in 2025 is exactly what the models predicted, except it's happening faster than even the pessimists expected.

Companies are not planning to bring these jobs back. This isn't a pause. This is a permanent restructuring of the workforce. When a company discovers it can operate with 15% fewer employees while maintaining or growing revenue, why would they ever rehire?

They won't.

The Horse and Carriage Argument Falls Apart

Every time I mention replacement, someone brings up new jobs created by technology. "The car industry created millions of jobs!" Yes, for a few decades, in the 20th century, when machines needed humans to operate them.

AI doesn't need you to operate it. It operates itself. And then it improves itself. And then it builds better versions of itself.

We're not in the car age of innovation. We're in the "cars that build and drive themselves" age. Except the cars are also the factory, the engineers, the sales team, and the management consultant telling you this is all going to be fine.

What Nobody Wants to Say Out Loud

The tech executives making these decisions know what's coming. Why do you think they're consolidating wealth and power so aggressively? Why the rush to deploy AI before regulation catches up? Why the massive investments in automation infrastructure?

They're not planning for a future where AI enhances human work. They're planning for a future where AI replaces it. And they're positioning themselves to own the systems that replace you.

The question isn't whether this will happen. The question is whether you're going to prepare for it or pretend everything will work out.

What You Should Do Right Now

I'm not going to sugarcoat this. The traditional paths, get a degree, work hard, climb the ladder, are crumbling in real-time. The companies are telling you with their actions what they won't say with their words: your labor has an expiration date.

So what do you do?

First: Buy and invest in food production. Not as a doomsday prepper, but as someone who understands that food independence is the ultimate economic security. Learn to grow something. Anything. Buy some land with others and start growing.

Second: Pay off your debt. Every dollar you owe is leverage someone else has over you. In a radically transformed economy, being debt-free might be the difference between options and desperation.

Third: Build real skills and real community. The jobs are disappearing, but human needs aren't. Learn to create value outside the corporate system. Connect with actual humans who will matter when the algorithms can't help you.

This Is Just the Beginning

We're watching The Great Termination unfold in real-time. Not a recession. Not a correction. The systematic elimination of human labor as a necessary component of economic production.

Over the past three years, I've built AI systems. I've seen what they can do. I've watched capabilities that seemed impossible become routine. And I've written extensively about what comes next, not as speculation, but as extrapolation from the trajectory we're already on.

The timeline isn't theoretical anymore. We're in it.

If you want to understand the full scope of what's coming and how to prepare, not with fear but with purpose, I've laid out the complete picture in my book Aipocalypse. It's not about hiding from the future. It's about building something worth preserving through it.

You can learn more at http://www.aipocalypsebook.com

The Great Termination isn't coming. It's here. The only question left is what you're going to do about it.

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What are you seeing in your industry? Are companies being honest about their AI implementation plans? Share your experiences with me I want to help!

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