When we think about artificial intelligence in the workplace, a lot of us picture robots or even drones.

But AI is a lot bigger than just those things, and there’s a segment of the workforce that is disappearing because of it.

It’s called “The Great Flattening,” and it’s impacting middle managers and the people who report to them.

“In just the last two years, (I’ve seen) a tremendous speed of development of what AI can do,” said Peter Cohan, associate professor at Babson College.

The latest AI can do more sophisticated work, providing tasks that are usually associated with middle managers.

“The job of middle managers is to sort of translate the grand strategic visions of the executives into specific tasks that people in the organization will actually execute,” Cohan said.

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Cohan points to layoffs in big tech like Microsoft and Amazon.

“I think one of the big reasons they’re doing this is because they’re spending so much to invest in AI,” Cohen said.

Losing middle managers is now being called “The Great Flattening,” as layers between line workers and executives disappear.

“That sort of takes away a big coordinating function that middle managers formally used to perform,” Cohen said.

Data from the HR company Gusto shows a spike in the number of workers reporting to middle managers since 2019, going from three to about six, which could affect how people feel about their workplace.

“One thing that AI cannot replace is person-to-person communication,” said Greg Stoller, with Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.

Stoller said to protect your job, you should be proactive about growth.

“I think the first thing you should do to AI-proof your job is talk to your supervisor and ask him, her, them, ‘How am I doing? Can I improve?’ Don’t be afraid to volunteer to do additional work,” Stoller said.

Researchers already see changes in hiring for tech jobs. The unemployment rate for new college grads has doubled, affecting entry-level jobs in design, web search, and programming.

And generative AI is just getting started.

In the past, jumps in technology ended up with job creation. So be on the lookout for new jobs, such as people to do quality checks on AI, and demand for AI training roles.