You’ve heard the stories: a department wiped out overnight, hundreds of jobs gone, and a shiny new AI platform quietly rolled in to “boost efficiency.” You might even be living that story yourself.

Yes, AI is replacing people. But here’s the truth no press release will say out loud: It’s not because you “couldn’t keep up.” It’s because companies have been running a two-step play for years—and AI just made the second step easier.

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Step One: The Setup
First, they load you up. More responsibilities. Fewer resources. Tighter timelines.
You’re praised for “rising to the challenge,” right up until your 60-hour weeks start catching up with you.

Fatigue sets in. Mistakes happen. The shine wears off.

It’s not because you’re weak—it’s because you’re human. But in a culture where rest is a liability, your humanness becomes a mark against you.

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Step Two: The Switch
Now you’re burned out, maybe not hitting the same numbers you used to. Management calls it “underperformance” or “restructuring needs.”

Enter AI. It doesn’t need health insurance, a lunch break, time off, or a living wage. It can be framed as “innovation” instead of “cost-cutting.” And the public eats it up, because who doesn’t like progress?

Except you and the rest of the team who just got replaced aren’t “obsolete”—you’re casualties of a system designed to push people past breaking point and then swap them for something cheaper.

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The Real Enemy
This isn’t about good tech versus bad tech, or that AI is evil and “taking away our jobs.” It’s about the same force that drove outsourcing, automation, and gig work, all of which has been “taking away our jobs” for decades: profit over people.

AI didn’t walk into your office and demand your job. Corporate leadership chose to use it this way. And here’s the rub: those same companies could have used AI to make your job saner, safer, and more sustainable. They could have automated the soul-sucking parts of your role so you had energy for the high-value work only a human can do.

They didn’t, because that’s not their priority.

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What This Means for You

1. Drop the shame.
If you’re burning out or got replaced, that’s not a personal failure. That’s the game they’ve been running at your expense. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

2. Name it.
Say it out loud: “I was burned out or simply given more than any single human could handle, and they used that to justify replacing me.” Naming the truth pulls it out of the fog of self-blame and into daylight where you can see it for what it is.

3. Learn and use Generative AI—with a purpose.
Generative AI, also called GenAI, is the kind that creates things from your prompts—whether that’s text, images, or even code. Examples include ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude.

You don’t need to “out-compete” AI, but you can use it to take back some control:

• Rebuild your income faster.
  Use it to update your resume, tailor job applications, and prepare for interviews without spending hours stuck on a blank page. The quicker you can send out strong applications, the sooner you can land your next role.
• Test-drive a small business idea.
  Even if you’ve never thought about running your own thing, GenAI can help brainstorm ideas that fit your skills, draft a simple plan, and create everything from a basic website to product descriptions to a step-by-step guide for self-publishing. It’s like having a brainstorming partner and junior assistant rolled into one—free or nearly free.
• Offer AI-assisted services.
  Many small businesses and nonprofits would love to use AI but don’t have the time to learn it. You could be the bridge—offering services like “I’ll write your newsletter using AI” or “I’ll organize your customer database.” You bring the human insight; AI just helps you deliver faster and opens new ways to earn on your own terms.

4. Connect with others—from home or in person.
You don’t have to go through this on your own, and you don’t have to leave your house to start building connections.

• From home: Post on LinkedIn about your situation and what you’re looking for. Search for Facebook or LinkedIn groups related to your field or interests. Use X (formerly Twitter) to find hashtags where your industry shares leads (#marketingjobs, #writers, #graphicdesign, #informationtechnology). If you’re in the U.S., check your state and local government job boards as well.

There are also national and local job boards, from Craigslist in the U.S. to Kijiji in Canada, from Indeed to Monster. Once you find something that interests you, your GenAI partner can help you get ready—researching the company, writing your resume, drafting a cover letter, and even helping you prepare for an interview.

• In person: Check your local library, co-working spaces, or community centers for networking events, job clubs, or “skill share” meetups. Pick one or two that feel manageable instead of trying to attend everything.
• Swap resources intentionally.
  Once you connect with even one or two people, trade job leads, AI tips, or links to free training. Small, tight-knit circles like this can be surprisingly powerful.
• Longer-term: If you want a voice in how AI is used in the workplace, look for worker advocacy groups online or in your area. This is a future-facing step, but it’s worth keeping on your radar.

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The Bottom Line
AI isn’t the villain. It doesn’t have wants or needs unless a human builds them in. It didn’t suddenly appear and say, “How can I put every single human on Earth out of a job today?”

No. AI is only as “good” or “bad” as the human deciding how to use it. What you’re seeing now in the workplace is that it’s become a weapon in the hands of leadership that decided people are expendable—and replacing them with something that doesn’t need what we need is more profitable.

The more we can name the real cause, the more we can stop quietly swallowing the lie that we were the problem. Because you were never the problem. And neither is artificial intelligence.