A Towards Data Science essay argues that AI is not stealing your job — companies are. The author concedes that AI-driven displacement is real and accelerating: translators, customer support workers, junior legal assistants, and software developers all face shrinking opportunities as agentic models handle tasks once requiring human judgment.

The piece frames the problem as structural rather than technological. Businesses in competitive markets naturally cut labor costs when cheaper alternatives exist. Since the 1980s, weakened labor movements have meant productivity gains flow almost entirely to owners and shareholders rather than workers. Post-WWII productivity skyrocketed, yet working hours barely budged — profits captured the difference.

Two futures emerge depending on who captures AI's productivity gains. If investors dominate, expect mass displacement and concentrated wealth. If workers retain leverage, those same gains could translate into shorter hours, higher wages, or broader ownership. The author points to worker cooperatives and publicly owned AI initiatives like Switzerland's as models where productivity benefits reach labor.

The closing argument is blunt: your employer choosing to fire you is an active decision, not an inevitable consequence of technology. Blaming AI misses the target — inequality is the real enemy, and fighting it requires political pressure, regulation, and collective bargaining, not anti-technology sentiment.