AI is already creating measurable productivity gains, but the near term story is less about mass layoffs and more about uneven adoption, stronger execution, and a recalibration of work toward higher value tasks.
In practice, AI often intensifies the workday. Instead of reclaiming time, people use efficiency gains to colonize their remaining "white space"—taking on more tasks and effectively narrowing the gap between working and recovering. This creates a modern Jevons Paradox: as AI makes our time more "efficient," we don't work less; we simply consume that efficiency by increasing the volume and velocity of our output until we hit a wall.