God Father AI Apologizes: Storm of Layoffs Coming Soon

JAKARTA - The wave of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed from just an experimental tool into a key foundation in the modern workplace, with an increasingly massive impact and accelerating business efficiency by 2026. This AI technology is said to not only automate routine tasks, but also change the way humans collaborate, create, and make decisions. Is it true?

The mid-20th century, specifically in 1956 when it was first introduced by John McCarthy at the Dartmouth Conference in the United States. This conference marked the birth of AI as a scientific study. And in the 1960s-1970s: It began to develop with examples such as the first chatbot (ELIZA) and mobile robot (Shakey).

AI has come a long way since it was first introduced in the mid-20th century. Initially only a theoretical concept, AI has now evolved into a widely applied technology through machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics. In 2025, AI has been widely integrated in various industrial sectors, such as manufacturing, healthcare, education, and finance.

Business process automation, customer-serving chatbots, to AI-based medical diagnosis systems show that this technology is no longer the future, but the reality of today. Routine tasks can now be completed by automated systems, freeing up workers' time to focus on more strategic work.

Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, made a prediction that shook the professional world. This man born in 1984 confirmed that in the next 12 -18 months, office workers are predicted to be replaced by AI automation. Suleyman added that AI performance will be on par with humans or at least part of the professional tasks being done.

"White-collar jobs, where you sit in front of a computer as an accountant, project manager, or marketing staff - most of these tasks will be fully automated by AI in 12 to 18 months." quoted from NRP.org, Tuesday, February 17.

Suleyman explained that Microsoft itself, currently claims that more than a quarter of the company's code is now written with the help of AI. The role of the engineer has also shifted to a more strategic focus on debugging, system architecture, and production implementation.

Another AI creator and CEO of the US artificial intelligence (AI) research and security company, Dario Amodei, warned that AI has the potential to eliminate up to half of entry-level white-collar jobs. "We as creators of this technology have an obligation to be honest about what is coming. I think this hasn't really entered the radar of many people," said Amodei, creator of Claude AI.

Claude is an AI assistant for writing, analysis, coding, and complex problem solving. Claude competes with ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Gemini (Google).

AI's 'God Father', Geoffrey Hinton, apologized to the public for his creation which has grown rapidly in the last 20 months. He also warned that the wave of layoffs due to AI is expected to become more real and massive starting in 2026.

Challenges of the times that need to be answered

Facing this change, human resource development is crucial. Education and retraining (reskilling) must focus on digital skills and technology utilization. The government and companies also need to play an active role in formulating policies that regulate the use of AI ethically and responsibly. Collaboration between humans and AI is the key to creating optimal work results. In addition, the work culture needs to be adapted to the digital era by building an open mindset towards innovation and lifelong learning.

AI has become a major force that is changing the landscape of the world of work by 2025. Although it brings challenges, the presence of AI provides great opportunities in creating a more efficient, flexible, and innovative world of work. In order for this change to have a long-term positive impact, the balance between technological progress and human development must be maintained. With the right strategy, the future of the world of work integrated with AI will be more inclusive and sustainable.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) Future of Jobs 2025 report predicts that 170 million new jobs will be created compared to 92 million lost globally in this decade, although with significant shifts in skills. In Indonesia, jobs such as AI and Machine Learning Specialists are projected to grow the fastest, with a 52 percent increase in demand between 2025 and 2030, while data entry jobs will shrink by 29 percent.

PwC's 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer found that workers with AI skills earn a 56% salary premium, up from 25% the previous year, demonstrating the value brought by AI-powered workers. Jobs that require deep emotional intelligence, complex ethical judgment, creative vision, and the ability to build meaningful human relationships, such as healthcare management, tend to be safer from AI threats. New roles such as AI Workflow Supervisor, Advanced Prompt Engineer, and AI Security and Ethics Analyst will also be increasingly sought after.

Big companies are starting to adapt. Microsoft claims that more than a quarter of its corporate code is now written with the help of AI. IBM even plans to triple new graduate recruitment by 2026, seeing young workers as the best investment due to their fluency in using AI. Dropbox is also expanding its new graduate and graduate internship program by 25% to tap the expertise of the younger generation of AI.