Will AI Make Work Obsolete?

AI can write code, diagnose diseases, design buildings, and create art. Tools like ChatGPT, Claude and autonomous robots are transforming industries once seen as automation-proof, fueling fears of mass job loss. Some argue that machines will become so efficient that they will one day replace most human labor. Others say AI will augment work, not erase it, and historically, people have feared innovation killing jobs, which arguably hasn't come to pass. Now we debate: Will AI Make Work Obsolete? Arguing Yes: Andrew Yang, Founder of the Forward Party, Former Presidential Candidate Simon Johnson, Nobel Prize-winning Economist; Professor of Entrepreneurship and Head of the Global Economics and Management Group at MIT Arguing No: Chris Hughes, Co-Founder of Facebook; Chair of the Economic Security Project; Author of "Marketcrafters" Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of Humane Intelligence PBC; Former U.S. Science Envoy for Artificial Intelligence Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates Join the conversation on Substack—share your perspective on this episode and

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Will AI Make Work Obsolete? is an episode from Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates by Open to Debate.

This episode is 53:15 long.

This episode was published on Mar 6, 2026.

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