WACO, Texas. — Most of us are already seeing artificial intelligence changing parts of our lives. In the workforce, Goldman Sachs estimates AI could eliminate up to 70 percent of jobs. So how will workers bridge the gap during the transition?
Inside local classrooms, the reality of this shift is already unfolding. Lively classroom discussions fill the room as Baylor University Information Systems and Business Analytics Master's students debate AI, data security, and automation policies.
Just like in the 80s and 90s with the invention and incorporation of computers and the internet, economists say that as old roles transform, new tech jobs will emerge in their place. But navigating the interim period brings plenty of questions.
"I think at this moment there's lots of uncertainty," says Kevin Wang, a master's student in Baylor's business analytics program and founder of the AI society.
Wang is seeing the ground shifting firsthand.
"There's a huge gap between all those big California companies, big model companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and the Use Case in the business world," Wang explains. "Many people in the business world are still confused how to use AI."
On the commercial front, some companies are already operating on the cutting edge of this shift. Firms like MODEFORGE are utilizing hundreds of autonomous agent bots alongside just a few human workers to scale operations.
"The goal is that there will be more humans doing things that make us uniquely human in an AI world," said Mark Senefski, CEO of MODEFORGE. "We're not working more hours. We're just getting way more output."
To bridge the gap until the next generation of tech jobs fully materializes, experts argue that structural support is needed. Dr. Hope Koch, a Baylor Information Systems professor, emphasizes the importance of providing incentives for companies to keep human workers employed.
"I do think we need to address our taxing structure," Dr. Koch says. "America, the government provides a really good incentive for the non-humans—so the humans are taxed very heavily and the technology... the taxing is not quite as much."
As automation reshapes industries from Silicon Valley to central Texas, anxiety around the technology remains widespread. A new survey from Chapman University on American fears reveals that AI ranks as one of the top 10 fears in the United States.
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