Gig workers are endlessly exploited. AI could make more of us share their fate
TL;DR
Klarna is the case study: after replacing customer service work with an AI chatbot, it brought people back, but closer to an Uber-style contractor setup than stable full-time jobs. The Guardian frames AI less as a pure job killer and more as a tool for breaking jobs into cheaper, smaller, less protected task bundles. This is moving beyond drivers and delivery apps: customer support, creatives, analysts, lawyers, coders and even nurses are being pulled into platform-style labor models.
Nauti's Take
This is the more uncomfortable AI labor story: not every job disappears, many are hollowed out. Companies can claim humans are still in the loop while the role itself becomes weaker.
The flexibility pitch sounds modern, but often means cost-shifting with an app interface. If regulators and unions wait until platform logic is the default, the damage will already be baked in.
Briefingshow
The key issue is not only whether AI removes jobs. The bigger risk is that companies automate the predictable parts of work and outsource the messy remainder as on-demand labor. Work still exists, but bargaining power, benefits and risk protection shift away from employees and toward the company.
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