When I first heard that Amazon was cutting 14,000 corporate jobs because of artificial intelligence, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of shock and concern. To then find out that about 2,300 cuts were in Seattle alone, according to the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) website, was just further disappointment. I couldn’t help but wonder: Where does that leave the rest of us?

These people who were not warehouse workers, but corporate employees just learned their jobs were no longer needed because of AI. Amazon leaders claim the layoffs are part of a plan to make the company “more efficient”. Keep in mind that these are real people who worked years to earn their positions at Amazon. Contributing to a company that’s now going to move on without them. 

From a business point of view, it might make sense. AI operations wouldn’t need breaks, benefits, or even salaries. But from a human point of view, it’s totally unfair and frustrating. If artificial intelligence is capable of replacing high-paying office jobs, what hope do the rest of us have?

I think about how often we’ve been told that technology will make our lives easier, and in some ways that’s absolutely true. AI helps analyze data, increase efficiency through automation, as well as solve problems we couldn’t before. Yet it’s also creating new problems that we didn’t see coming. As of right now, thousands of people in Seattle are struggling to find work because apparently algorithms are more important than experience.

In a way, this takes me back to my U.S. history class when I was learning about the Industrial Revolution. Back then, machines replaced manual labor. Now, AI is slowly replacing mental labor – our thinking, our planning, our creativity. This is what scares me the most. Because if even our mental intelligence can be replaced by AI, what makes our work even human anymore?

When I think about the people who lost their jobs, I feel a mix of sadness and frustration. It’s easy to look at numbers in a headline and forget that each one represents a person. Someone with bills to pay, families to support, and futures that suddenly look uncertain. Imagine going to work one day and being told that a computer can do my job better. It’s not just about the loss of income, but the loss of purpose, identity, and stability. 

I can’t help but feel that companies like Amazon should be more empathetic and take more responsibility towards the hard workers who have helped build their success.

So where does this leave us? I believe it leaves us with a choice. We can either let companies like Amazon decide the future of work, or we can start by having real conversations about protecting workers and making sure technology is benefiting everyone, not only corporations. 

I don’t blame the progress – I know AI is here to stay. However, the progress shouldn’t have to be at the cost of people’s livelihoods. If companies like Amazon can’t find a way to innovate with their people instead of without them, then maybe the real intelligence we’re losing isn’t artificial, it’s human.