The last time we had a tech bubble was in 2000. The Dot-Com bubble, formed by the commercialization of the internet, was caused by tons of speculative investments into tech startups that had promising returns. When investors grew skeptical and rapidly liquidated investments, the bubble burst and wiped out tens of thousands of jobs. However, the bubble gave rise to useful companies like Google and Amazon. The same pattern may be happening with Artificial Intelligence (AI); as of 2025, $109.1 billion was invested into private AI companies, solely in the US. That number is projected to increase by $650 billion by the end of 2026, and reach $2.8 trillion by 2029.
AI companies around the world are racing to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), the main prospective return on investment. AGI is essentially AI that is “generally smarter than humans,” as described by OpenAI.4 Currently, countries around the globe are racing to develop AGI to harness its potential in accelerating scientific research, dominate economically, and lead in military strength. Tristan Harris, co-founder of Center for Humane Technology, puts it this way when describing the motivation behind the AGI race: “If I don’t get there first, someone else will get AGI and I’ll be a slave to their future.”
So is AI hype just a harmful bubble waiting to burst, or might it create significant benefits for all of humanity? Or might it be both? Here is what members of the tech workforce think about AI.
A data scientist with a master’s degree in Data Science from UC Berkeley states that “Our company is encouraging us to use AI more because it allows us to take on bigger workloads.”
Her team spent three months creating a software tool that “AI could do in a day.” After her company began integrating AI agents more, her company stopped hiring for entry-level positions because “AI can do what they do. Companies would rather pay for an AI tool subscription than $100k+ for an entry-level salary.”
She begins her workday at 6 a.m. as a data scientist, but comes home at 10 p.m. from her side gig. “I work in a team of five, but I’m already preparing for a layoff because it really only takes one of us to prompt AI to do our jobs. Sometimes it feels like I’m just sitting there telling AI what to do.”
AI agents have already replaced tasks traditionally done by entry-level positions. A Technical Program Manager working in Silicon Valley shares that she hears of AI agents replacing tech workers “on a daily basis.” She adds that “Not only is AI able to do systematic tasks like reviewing code, but it’s able to make minor decisions as well.” At her company alone, they already employ tens of thousands of AI agents.
However, the future of entry-level tech positions is not grim. She claims that AI will simply automate mechanical tasks, and those positions will likely shift towards “prompting AI efficiently, being able to bridge between code and humans, and roles related to maintaining the infrastructure of AI, including energy consumption.”
