You\u2019ve probably seen the headlines. \u201cAI job cuts.\u201d \u201cAutomation replacing humans.\u201d Some CEOs are even proud of it.<\/p>\n
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the next billion-dollar company could consist of one person<\/a> thanks to AI advances. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei thinks AI could eliminate nearly half of all entry-level white-collar jobs<\/a> in five years<\/p>\n Already this year, more than 64,000 people have been laid off across the tech sector, with Microsoft<\/a> and Intel<\/a> leading the charge and AI being a major factor.<\/p>\n People innovate, AI imitates<\/p>\n Not only is this short-sighted, it\u2019s fundamentally bad business. The companies cutting people today in the name of AI will be the ones playing catch-up tomorrow.<\/p>\n There is no doubt that AI is excellent at doing more with less. It speeds up processes, cuts down repetitive work, and buys back time. But AI on its own cannot create the next generation of products and services.<\/p>\n The businesses that win in the long term are the ones that innovate. That create new products. That reimagine how things should work, and find radical breakthroughs that impress their customers in new ways.<\/p>\n The data backs it up. McKinsey<\/a> found that companies with innovation baked into the culture are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their competitors.<\/p>\n And history supports it as well\u2014just ask Blockbuster. Back in the early 2000s, it had strong profits and a large customer base. But what it lacked was the foresight to use its leading position to build the next wave of value. Netflix<\/a> built it instead.<\/p>\n And that kind of creative thinking still only comes from people. Ultimately, it comes down to this: AI doesn\u2019t invent. It recycles. It\u2019s trained on other people\u2019s ideas, imitates patterns, and doesn\u2019t jump the curve.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not a flaw\u2014that\u2019s how AI is designed. As academic Mark Runco puts it: \u201cAI can only produce artificial creativity<\/a>.\u201d It can support creative people, but it can\u2019t replace them.<\/p>\n If your strategy is to fire the people who could create the next big thing\u2014good luck. You might run a tighter ship, at least in the short term, but don\u2019t be surprised when your product roadmap starts to fall flat.<\/p>\n How AI can really unleash creativity<\/p>\n So, if you\u2019re leading a large business, what should you do instead? Keep hold of your talent. Tell your team to use the extra time they have freed up with AI to innovate. Give your people the headroom to think.<\/p>\n