AI Is Compressing Knowledge. Ownership Becomes the Edge.

[Rob Bergeron]

Jamie Dimon recently pulled back the curtain on how AI is actually being used inside JPMorgan Chase.

Risk analysis, fraud detection, marketing, underwriting, note-taking, ad generation, error reporting, and reducing operational mistakes.

In total, the bank already has 600 AI use cases, and Dimon says 50 of them fall into the “important” category.

His philosophy on deploying the technology is straightforward:

“If we could use it to do something better, faster, quicker, cheaper, we are going to do it.”

That sentence explains how nearly every major company will approach AI.

Dimon also acknowledged something most CEOs rarely say publicly. If AI is deployed too quickly, layoffs could happen faster than workers can adjust. At the same time, he suggested the productivity gains could eventually enable something like a four-day work week.

Some early labor data is already starting to reflect the pressure.

In the tech sector, new hires in January totaled just 5,306 — the lowest level since tracking began in 2009. During that same period, for every one person hired, roughly twenty were laid off.

Companies are becoming leaner while becoming more automated.

And the first roles affected tend to be junior positions — the apprenticeships where people historically learned the craft of a profession.

That creates a strange paradox.

The experience AI cannot replace is the exact experience many young workers may struggle to obtain if those entry points shrink.

What’s interesting is how younger workers appear to be responding.

A recent survey found 60% of Gen Z say they plan to pursue skilled trade work this year. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, welders — work tied to the physical world.

In other words, many of the youngest workers in the economy are already adjusting to where value is shifting.

For decades the economy rewarded access to knowledge. Degrees and titles mattered because information was scarce.

AI changes that equation.

When knowledge becomes abundant, value shifts toward things that cannot be digitized.

Land.
Food.
Energy.
Water.
Cash-flowing real estate.
Experiences in the physical world.

AI can analyze a deal.

It cannot own the asset.

If productivity keeps rising while labor demand compresses, society will likely adapt. My personal view is that over time we may see some version of universal basic income become more politically viable — potentially even viewed more favorably than programs like Section 8 because it treats people as participants in the productivity gains of technology rather than recipients of a narrowly defined subsidy.

All of this can feel overwhelming.

But there’s a simple antidote.

James Clear wrote something that stuck with me:

“Working on a problem reduces the fear of it. It’s hard to fear a problem when you are making progress on it — even if progress is imperfect and slow. Action relieves anxiety.”

That applies here.

Learn the tools.
Diversify income streams.
Own productive assets.
Build skills that connect technology with real-world execution.

Major technological shifts don’t eliminate opportunity.

They redistribute it.

So I’ll leave you with this question this morning:

How are you positioning yourself for an economy where knowledge is abundant — but ownership and judgment are scarce?