Two Futures Duel AI Will Collapse the Economy or Make Every Job Obsolete
A cash storm surrounds AI. The amount of money being spent on artificial intelligence is astronomical. Investors have lavished the top tech companies and startups alike with hundreds of billions of dollars — so much so, in fact, that an estimated 92 percent of US GDP growth now comes from AI. If trends continue into 2026, conservative estimates peg the spending from just the largest technology firms at around $550 billion. With that kind of cash riding on AI, it's safe to say investors are expecting something big — like a totally new era of human development.
In This Article:
Keith Riegert Says There Are Only Two AI Futures
Many economists, journalists, and venture capitalists have argued that the gold at the end of the rainbow is less a pot of riches than the complete automation of all jobs. Basically, the idea goes that whoever’s left holding the bag when the new AI era comes to pass will be god emperor, for better or worse. That idea isn’t lost on publishing magnate Keith Riegert, the CEO of Ulysses Press, who recently told a crowded room of book industry leaders that there are only two AI futures: a hellscape of mass unemployment, or a “scaling plateau triggering economic collapse.” “I don’t know which ones going to happen,” he said, commenting that a financial catastrophe “is the version of the future that I would prefer.” Riegert’s brutal assessment came at Sharjah’s Publishers Conference in the United Arab Emirates, a massive annual meeting which brings over 1,200 representatives from for-profit publishing houses together to discuss the industry. His talk, evidently, was on the gnawing issue of AI. “It’s time to use it or get left behind,” the CEO told attendees at his panel. According to industry publication Publishers Weekly, Riegert described AI as both “transformative” and “unsettling,” adding that he’s “not very happy that AI is here.” Still, Riegert decided to stuff his doubts deep down and go after what really matters in life: profits. He continued to describe the partnership his company made with OpenAI, which includes a mandate that all employees use ChatGPT for “at least an hour daily.”
OpenAI Pact and Onstage AI Demonstration
The publishing CEO even demonstrated the transformative power of AI live on stage by — we’re not kidding — creating a book ready to be listed on Amazon in just five minutes. He admitted the book was “terrible,” but listed it on Kindle’s Direct Publishing platform anyway before deleting it, Publishers reported. The partnership with OpenAI reportedly includes a mandate that all employees use ChatGPT for “at least an hour daily.” “More on AI: ChatGPT Is Blowing Up Marriages as Spouses Use AI to Attack Their Partners.”
Clone Boom and Amazon’s Bot Farming Nightmare
“As soon as Kara Swisher’s biography was announced, there were half a dozen AI-generated clones that came to market well before publication,” he told conference attendees, seemingly as a positive example of AI’s abilities. Sure enough, Amazon has become a nightmare of AI-generated books and bot farming — a degraded ecosystem this CEO seems happy to roll around in, damn the consequences.
Author’s Note and Byline
I’m a tech and transit correspondent for Futurism, where my beat includes transportation, infrastructure, and the role of emerging technologies in governance, surveillance, and labor. More on AI: ChatGPT Is Blowing Up Marriages as Spouses Use AI to Attack Their Partners.
