Saying the quiet part out loud – we’re all “lower value human capital” now . . .

The CEO of a major bank could not have put it any more succinctly. This bank’s value jumped 65% over the past year, and to keep the party going 7,000 bank jobs will disappear. Because those workers are “lower value human capital”, to be replaced immediately by AI. You guys know who you are - don't whistle past the graveyard. (See link below).

This is a pro-AI speech made for investors and stockholders, no?

But bank CEO Bill Winters isn’t saying anything new, or even particular extreme. As tech companies release updated versions of their AI products several times a year, THOSE companies are gleefully name checking all the jobs which will become toast. Bill Winters is not the one deciding who gets fired – our news feeds are full of stuff from Anthropic and OpenAI regarding the beginning of the end of us.

Those tech CEOs are just beginning to understand why this might frighten workers and customers. And spur populist protests. So now these tech moguls are rushing to reassure people: “Universal HIGH INCOME via checks issued by the Federal government is the best way to deal with unemployment caused by AI.”

That’s a direct quote from Elon Musk this week on X. Does promising that this will be HIGH universal Income make his claim more palatable? Does Musk’s inability to say where the universal income money comes from make it less believable? Last time we checked on Elon, he was in charge of Trump’s DOGE (department of government efficiency) program. Slashing government spending across the board. Presumably to free up money to be spent SpaceX programs. The coming SpaceX IPO valuation is based on the premise that company profits will increase 1,000% in the near future. Because of moon rockets, mars rockets, and an immense flock of satellites overhead to reduce the sun’s glare and stop polar ice caps from melting.

Back to “low value human capital”. A nasty term, but so are things like outsourcing, offshoring, and H1B job visas to import lower cost workers from places like India and Pakistan. Anyone who has managed a software project staffed with H1B coders understands all software inevitably breaks, is susceptible to hacking, and has indecipherable documentation. By then those foreign coders could be back in Karachi or Katchandeetacat.

No matter which diploma or degree, we are all low value human capital if there’s a cheaper option. Presumably cutting costs means prices for stuff we buy goes down, and sales volume goes up?

But if this was actually true, why do we have 100% price inflation since the year 2000? Why are living standards going down for most of us? Why are we on a hamster wheel with $39 trillion in national debt, and unaffordable housing?

I’m just sayin’ . . .



StanChart to cut over 7,000 jobs, boost AI to replace 'lower-value human capital' | Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/stanchart-cut-more-than-7000-jobs-bank-steps-up-ai-adoption-2026-05-19/