LIZ PEEK: AI revolution threatens to push America toward socialism amid job fears
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What if Senator Bernie Sanders is right and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is wrong?
What happens if the AI revolution leads to mass layoffs of American workers, as a Vermont senator warned in a recent Fox News column? But what if Powell is wrong that the labor market softening is mainly due to supply issues (lower immigration and lower labor force participation rate) rather than AI-generated “efficiencies”?
What will the reaction of policymakers be? What should happen?
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Artificial intelligence will soon become a political battleground. Democratic socialist Sanders, ever the class warrior, has already questioned whether AI will help all Americans or just “a handful of billionaires.” Like trade deals that send millions of jobs abroad, Sanders worries that the massive investment flowing into artificial intelligence could cause up to 100 million Americans to lose their jobs over the next decade. He may be right; Imagine the reflections.
Young people are already losing faith in capitalism and moving closer to socialism. Two-thirds of Democrats now view socialism more favorably than capitalism. Nothing undermines our capitalist system faster than widespread job losses resulting from a technological breakthrough applauded by the investor class.
This is the critical issue of our day; It’s a topic that attracts little attention even from Powell, a self-described “data-driven” who always looks back rather than forward. Powell responded to a question about employment at his last press conference by saying, “The supply of workers has fallen very, very sharply, mainly because of immigration, but also because of declining participation in the workforce. So that means there’s less need for new jobs, because there’s not that flow into the labor pool where people need jobs.” Excuse me, what?
The economy is growing but hiring is declining. While the government shutdown has hampered the usual monthly labor force reports, most data suggest the job market is weakening. Companies are increasingly citing AI investment as a factor in headcount decline.
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Corporate America is spending tens of billions of dollars on artificial intelligence and promising shareholders huge gains in productivity. So where will this productivity come from, other than reducing headcount? Of course, people equipped with artificial intelligence can make both themselves and their organizations more efficient by providing information and analysis faster. But ultimately this will also lay off some people and slow down new hiring. The impact on America’s labor market will be profound and is largely ignored.
Amazon recently announced that it would lay off 14,000 employees. A senior human resources officer at the firm sent a memo titled “Staying agile and continuing to strengthen our organizations.” He wrote: “The world is changing rapidly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, allowing companies to innovate faster than ever before.”
What types of workers are at risk? Of course, factory workers and truck drivers are being replaced by robots and artificial intelligence; There are also white collar workers. Fortune notes that layoffs at Amazon “primarily indicate the future of middle managers.” The world’s largest retailer employs approximately 1.5 million people; 14,000 is a drop in the bucket. But the trend is alarming and devastating for these 14,000 people.
Amazon is not alone. UPS recently announced it would cut 48,000 jobs this year; of these, 14,000 are in management positions and 34,000 are in operations. UPS started the year with about 500,000 employees. Target also recently made headlines by saying it would lay off 8% of its corporate workforce; This will be the first significant layoff in a decade.
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Job placement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas cites market and economic conditions as the main reason for most corporate layoffs to date, but also points to artificial intelligence. This makes sense. After all, the economy is growing rapidly; Real GDP growth in the second quarter was 3.8% and it looks like we will see strong expansion in the third quarter as well.
There has never been such a rapid adoption of new technology. Already, an estimated one-third of Americans use artificial intelligence; ChatGPT receives 5.4 billion visits per month. Global AI revenues are expected to total $391 billion this year and reach $3.5 trillion by 2033. These forecasts may be optimistic, but leading tech firms are investing nearly $400 billion this year alone to expand capacity, according to The Wall Street Journal. They clearly believe in projections.
Bernie Sanders aside, no one should want to stop the AI revolution. Artificial intelligence promises extraordinary advances in medicine and other sciences and could radically improve the education of American children.
It will largely be American companies that will benefit from the boom in AI spending, reaping the profits and influence that come with the global dominance of a new technology. Increasing productivity will encourage hiring in certain sectors and increase real wages. This will also allow for the retirement of more than 20 million baby boomers who are currently working.
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However, there may also be an adjustment period in which layoffs exceed job creation. Unemployment could rise, fueling anger at innovations that produce more unemployed Americans and resentment at the companies behind the cuts.
Sen. Bernie Sanders joined the co-hosts of “The View” to discuss his new book on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (ABC/TheView)
Lawmakers and financial leaders need to be prepared for this possibility, which could deepen voters’ growing love for socialism and rejection of capitalism. This would be disastrous for a country that has produced unprecedented opportunities and wealth that surpasses every other nation in the world.
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Otherwise, Bernie Sanders and his left-wing colleagues will dictate the response. Sanders advocates a 32-hour workweek with no lost wages, giving workers significantly more power and imposing a “robot tax” on big tech companies. Such measures will slow America’s competitiveness and growth, as it has in Europe.
We can’t let this happen.
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