Best Podcasts on AI's Impact on Jobs
Updated: Feb 25, 2026 – 8 episodes
Podcasters are exploring the dual nature of AI's impact on the workforce, highlighting that while AI may replace certain jobs, it also creates opportunities for new roles and enhances productivity. Discussions emphasize the need for a balanced approach that prioritizes human skills and adaptability in the face of automation, urging a shift from fear to actionable strategies for leveraging AI's potential.
Machine Learning Guide offers a balanced view on AI's impact, discussing how roles like ML Ops resist full automation. Start with their episode on AI's dual nature in job markets. Super Data Science with Jon Krohn highlights the vulnerability of entry-level jobs but also points out the expansion of roles requiring technical depth. Their episode on AI's rapid advancement is a must-listen. The AI Daily Brief argues for seeing AI as an opportunity creation tool, not just for cost-cutting. Their episode on corporate strategies for AI is insightful. Where the Internet Lives is optimistic, showcasing how AI transforms warehouse jobs into data analyst roles. Their episode on upskilling is eye-opening.
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Ridealong has curated the best podcasts and clips about Experts Debate AI's Role in Job Markets: Augmentation vs. Automation. Listen now.
Podcast Episodes Covering This Story
AI's impact on job markets is a double-edged sword, with potential to both displace workers and create new opportunities, but current market incentives heavily favor automation over augmentation.
“Darren Acemoglu, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2024, warns of what he calls the worst of all possible worlds, none of the transformative productivity gains and all of the displacement. He estimates AI will increase total factor productivity by only about 0.66% over 10 years, far below the hype. David Autor at MIT offers a more nuanced view...AI could restore the middle class by enabling mid-skill workers to perform expert-level tasks...or it could destroy the middle class by simply replacing those workers entirely.”
AI's impact on job markets is nuanced, with opportunities in specialized roles like ML Ops that resist full automation, but widespread disruption hasn't materialized yet.
“The ML Ops specialization deserves a specific mention. LinkedIn data shows 9.8 times growth over five years, and the role sits at the intersection of development and production in ways that resist full automation. Production environments are messy, unpredictable, and specific to each organization. Every company's data pipeline has its own peculiar failure modes, its own legacy systems that can't be migrated, its own compliance requirements that don't match the textbook.”
Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn
968: Is AI Automating Away All Coding Jobs?
Date posted: Feb 20, 2026
At a glance
AI's rapid advancement threatens entry-level jobs, but roles requiring technical depth and judgment are expanding, suggesting a shift rather than a loss in job opportunities.
Key quote from this episode
“New technology doesn't just destroy jobs. It creates jobs that nobody could have anticipated. Now, am I saying everything is fine and nobody needs to worry? Absolutely not. There are real vulnerabilities. Entry-level roles look particularly exposed because they tend to involve narrower task bundles... But here's the thing. Being able to complete a task autonomously in a benchmark setting is very different from replacing a human professional in the real world.”
The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis
Why AI Could Be Better for Plumbers than Programmers
Date posted: Feb 22, 2026
At a glance
AI should be seen as an opportunity creation technology rather than just a cost-cutting tool, with the potential to increase programming jobs despite current displacement concerns.
Key quote from this episode
“David's argument, which is one I agree with, is that the losing way in the long term of looking at AI is as a cost-cutting technology, and the winning way in the long term is looking at it as an opportunity creation technology. We always talk about this in the context of efficiency AI versus opportunity AI. David is applying that to the mindset of corporate leaders who need to set goals for what their AI initiatives are supposed to achieve.”
At a glance
AI is transforming warehouse jobs by upskilling workers into data analysts, demonstrating that automation enhances human roles rather than eliminating them.
Key quote from this episode
“Awana says it's also bringing a lot of benefit to the people who work in warehouses, too. She believes that automation can help modernize the workforce by upskilling jobs instead of eliminating them. A true collaboration between humans and robots. A lot of the people that used to do the manual cycle counting and stock checks have moved to actually become a lot more data analysts.”
At a glance
AI's rapid advancement threatens to eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs within one to five years, challenging the notion that retraining is a viable solution.
Key quote from this episode
“He cites Amodai's public prediction that AI could eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs within one to five years, and he argues that many insiders think that's conservative. The key distinction, he says, is that this isn't like past automation that replaced narrow tasks. It's a general substitute for cognitive labor that improves across domains simultaneously.”
Me, Myself, and AI
AI Is Not Improving Productivity: Nobel Laureate Daron Acemoglu
Date posted: Feb 24, 2026
At a glance
AI's dual impact on jobs is both a threat and an opportunity, with automation benefiting capital owners while new tasks enhance human productivity and wages.
Key quote from this episode
“Automation is great. It gets rid of some routine tasks. It can get rid of some boring tasks. When it's applied in the physical domain, such as with cranes or robots, it could remove the most dangerous tasks from the human work schedule. But automation also doesn't benefit workers by itself. It takes away tasks from workers. It is beneficial to capital and capital owners and not so much for workers in general.”
The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis
Why AI Leads to More Work, Not Less
Date posted: Feb 10, 2026
At a glance
AI should be seen as an expansionary opportunity rather than just an efficiency tool, with winning organizations using it to create new markets and revenue streams.
Key quote from this episode
“The winning organizations, however, will be those who use AI to dramatically expand what they do. They will not be focused on doing the same with less, but doing more with the same or way more with a little more. They will be thinking in terms of new product lines, new revenue streams, new categories and markets to expand into. The winners will view AI not as an efficiency technology, but as an expansionary opportunity creating technology.”
The Cast Nexa Show
Strategic Intelligence in the Age of AI: Sovereignty, Leverage & the 100-Year Advantage
Date posted: Feb 21, 2026
At a glance
AI should be used as an amplifier rather than a replacement, emphasizing the importance of human judgment and strategic restraint over speed and automation.
Key quote from this episode
“To win in the AI era, anchor positioning, use AI as amplifier, not replacement. Focus on judgment-based leverage, protect reputation capital, design long-term strategy, avoid speed addiction, build trust equity. AI changes tools, it does not change fundamentals. The future belongs to hybrid leaders, human clarity, machine efficiency, philosophy driven, technology assisted, slow thinking, fast execution, strategic restraint, tactical acceleration.”
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