E32 Bottom Rung

In this 13-minute Episode 32, Brick Thompson and Ed Daniels discuss AI's impact on employment and how the ‘Bottom Rung’ jobs may be going away…replaced by AI Agents.  Brick notes that this will present a problem for companies where typically new talent is brought in at an entry level, and as new employees gain experience, they advance up the career ladder. Without the Bottom Rung jobs, experienced people will not be available to fill the next level of jobs as managers advance up the ladder and, eventually, retire. 

Ed notes that new college graduates are already experiencing some difficulty finding jobs now in 2025, and this may be the beginning of this AI impact.  Brick notes that, in law firms, AI can do a good job of reviewing cases replacing some of the work that a paralegal or entry level attorney might do. What do we do then? Do newly minted attorneys review the AI’s work, or jump in at a higher level, or move immediately to an apprentice type position mentored by a more senior person?

Brick notes that if too many ‘cognitive’ jobs go away, young people or people changing jobs may need to consider other more difficult to automate jobs like the trades (electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, carpenters, welders, and mechanics), massage therapy or dance.

Business executives need to be doing succession planning to replace themselves when experienced human employees are no longer available. There will be fewer experienced candidates to choose from.

Employees need to recognize the upcoming wave of AI and be aware, be knowledgeable, and consider your options, and be prepared to zig or zag in your job choices with minimal advanced notice.

The name of this podcast, Beyond Electric Sheep, is a reference to the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. That novel is the source for the movies Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). It explores the themes of artificial intelligence, empathy, and reality in a dystopian future where humans and androids coexist. The novel raises the question of whether androids can dream or feel anything at all, and whether they are different from humans in any meaningful way. 

In our Beyond Electric Sheep podcast we go beyond the novel and the movies and discuss the broader implications and applications of artificial intelligence in our personal lives and in our businesses. We explore the pragmatic as well as the ethical and philosophical issues that arise from creating and interacting with intelligent machines.
 
 

Beyond Electric Sheep is also available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYg2J0jET_BPCKSnsxz8mleEmYogYJZhn