Why AI not DEI could be societys great equalizer

In companies across America, AI systems are coding software, creating marketing campaigns, and writing legal briefs — jobs that were once reserved for highly educated professionals.The college degree, long touted as the great equalizer, is losing value as algorithms master tasks that take humans years to learn.

This isn’t some distant scenario; it’s happening now, and it will trigger the most profound workplace disruption since the Industrial Revolution.While most Americans still view today’s job market struggles as temporary, major employers are quietly rebuilding their workforce strategies around AI-driven productivity increases — along with massive labor reductions.The revolution that’s coming won’t just change how we work, it will also upend who works at all.The data tells a stark story.

McKinsey researchers project that 60%-70% of worker activities could be automated in the next three years.Goldman Sachs predicts “significant disruption” affecting 300 million jobs in the US and Europe.

The World Economic Forum estimates 85 million positions eliminated by the end of 2025.This AI revolution will also shatter the very assumptions on which diversity, equity and inclusion frameworks have been built.For decades, DEI operated under a prescriptive model: Expand access to elite education and professional careers seen as bastions of privilege where White people disproportionately benefit from systemic advantages.The “knowledge economy” was framed as the promised land, and entry into white-collar strongholds — law, finance, tech, media — became the key to achieving both individual mobility and group equity for underrepresented groups.But what happens when AI targets those very professions for elimination?The evidence is clear: The occupations most vulnerable to AI displacement aren’t blue-collar; they’re white-collar, knowledge-economy jobs.

Goldman Sachs’ analysis shows that administrative support roles face 46% automation potential,...