AI is changing older workers' careers, research finds — here's how - CNBC

Oh brilliant, just what the ageing workforce needed: according to CNBC, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College has found that AI might 'prompt older workers to leave their jobs' or 'make their roles more efficient.' Because nothing says 'golden years' like being optimised out of existence by a transformer model. The gallows humour writes itself: the technology that was supposed to help with grocery shopping now suggests you clear off the payroll, rebranded as 'efficiency gains.' Note the careful wording – 'may prompt' – as if it's a gentle suggestion, not an actuarial inevitability. How very considerate of the algorithm.

Let's be honest: this is the logical endpoint of an economy treating older workers as expensive luxuries. Now the excuse is 'AI made your role redundant,' cleaner than a layoff. The research is peer-reviewed and sober, which makes it damning. Boston College's academics observed what managers already know: if cheaper software can do the work, pensionable humans become optional. It's not malice; it's 'efficiency.'

And what of the 'more efficient' part? That usually means doing the work of two people for the same pay, or less, because your leverage evaporated. Older workers who stay must cosy up to new tools, but the clock ticks. Boston College's finding isn't a surprise – it's a confirmation. The only question is how many research papers we'll need before anyone pretends to act.