Featuring scholarly and practitioner insights from HR and people leaders, industry experts, and researchers.

This research explores the economic risks of rapid AI adoption, specifically focusing on a market failure where firms automate beyond optimal levels. The research argues that competitive pressure forces companies into an automation arms race, as individual firms prioritize cost savings while ignoring the collective loss of consumer purchasing power. While strategies like employee retraining, profit-sharing, and transparent communication can mitigate harm, the research suggests they are insufficient to stop this self-destructive cycle. To address this strategic externality, the research proposes a shift toward policy interventions, such as specific automation taxes. Ultimately, the work highlights how excessive substitution of human labor may paradoxically erode the very market demand that sustains corporate profits.

In this HCI Webinar, I talk with Anthony Taylor about strategy alignment and leadership. Anthony Taylor is the CEO at SME Strategy. Anthony has facilitated strategy sessions for organizations big and small across North America and beyond. He is the author of two books and the host of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast. He holds a degree in business administration with a specialization in marketing. Anthony speaks fluent French, loves soccer, and one of his life goals is to visit every MLB Stadium.

In this HCI Webinar, I talk with Jake Mealy about What's fundamentally broken about employee surveys and what to do about it. Jake Mealy is a data analyst and storyteller whose experience spans biotech, sales, marketing, HR tech and people analytics. He holds a PhD from Trinity College Dublin and previously led data teams at Indeed and Analytic Partners. As Welliba's Chief Data Solutions Officer he pioneers AI-powered people analytics solutions. The insights delivered by this technology reveal the influence that employee experience has on hard business performance metrics like revenue and shareholder return.

In this HCI Webinar, I talk with Julie Winkle Giulioni about her book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go. Julie Winkle Giulioni is a champion for workplace growth and development. She believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their potential. And she supports organizations and leaders who want to make that happen with keynote speeches, consulting and training. Julie is the co-author of the international bestseller, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Still Want, translated into seven languages and coming out in its third edition in September. Her most recent book, Promotions Are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development. Help Employees Thrive, has been recognized with Nautilus and Axiom Business Book Awards. She is a regular columnist for Training Industry Magazine and SmartBrief and contributes articles on leadership, career development, and workplace trends to numerous publications including Fast Company and The Economist. Named by Inc. Magazine as a Top 100 Leadership Speaker, Julie’s in-person and virtual keynotes and presentations offer fresh, inspiring, yet actionable strategies for leaders who are interested in their own growth as well as supporting the growth of others. Her firm, DesignArounds, creates and offers training to organizations worldwide and has earned praise and awards from Human Resource Executive Magazine’s Top Ten Training Products, New York Film Festival, Brandon Hall, and Global HR Excellence Council.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Julie Winkle Giulioni about her book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go. Julie Winkle Giulioni is a champion for workplace growth and development. She believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their potential. And she supports organizations and leaders who want to make that happen with keynote speeches, consulting and training. Julie is the co-author of the international bestseller, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Still Want, translated into seven languages and coming out in its third edition in September. Her most recent book, Promotions Are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development. Help Employees Thrive, has been recognized with Nautilus and Axiom Business Book Awards. She is a regular columnist for Training Industry Magazine and SmartBrief and contributes articles on leadership, career development, and workplace trends to numerous publications including Fast Company and The Economist. Named by Inc. Magazine as a Top 100 Leadership Speaker, Julie’s in-person and virtual keynotes and presentations offer fresh, inspiring, yet actionable strategies for leaders who are interested in their own growth as well as supporting the growth of others. Her firm, DesignArounds, creates and offers training to organizations worldwide and has earned praise and awards from Human Resource Executive Magazine’s Top Ten Training Products, New York Film Festival, Brandon Hall, and Global HR Excellence Council. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This research explores the economic risks of rapid AI adoption, specifically focusing on a market failure where firms automate beyond optimal levels. The research argues that competitive pressure forces companies into an automation arms race, as individual firms prioritize cost savings while ignoring the collective loss of consumer purchasing power. While strategies like employee retraining, profit-sharing, and transparent communication can mitigate harm, the research suggests they are insufficient to stop this self-destructive cycle. To address this strategic externality, the research proposes a shift toward policy interventions, such as specific automation taxes. Ultimately, the work highlights how excessive substitution of human labor may paradoxically erode the very market demand that sustains corporate profits. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Abstract: Recent evidence suggests that artificial intelligence is displacing workers at an accelerating pace across multiple industries, with over 100,000 technology workers laid off in 2025 alone due to AI adoption. This article examines a critical yet underappreciated market failure: when firms automate in competitive environments, each captures the full cost savings while bearing only a fraction of the resulting demand destruction, creating a strategic externality that harms both workers and firm owners. Drawing on game-theoretic models and recent empirical observations, we demonstrate that competitive pressure traps rational, forward-looking firms in an automation arms race that exceeds collectively optimal levels. Neither wage flexibility, profit-sharing arrangements, nor voluntary coordination mechanisms can eliminate this distortion. Only policy interventions that directly address the per-task automation margin—specifically, Pigouvian automation taxes calibrated to uninternalized demand losses—can restore efficiency. The analysis reveals that "better" AI paradoxically amplifies rather than resolves the problem, and that fragmented markets suffer disproportionately. These findings suggest policy discourse should shift from managing displacement consequences to correcting the competitive incentives driving excessive automation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This research explores the economic risks of rapid AI adoption, specifically focusing on a market failure where firms automate beyond optimal levels. The research argues that competitive pressure forces companies into an automation arms race, as individual firms prioritize cost savings while ignoring the collective loss of consumer purchasing power. While strategies like employee retraining, profit-sharing, and transparent communication can mitigate harm, the research suggests they are insufficient to stop this self-destructive cycle. To address this strategic externality, the research proposes a shift toward policy interventions, such as specific automation taxes. Ultimately, the work highlights how excessive substitution of human labor may paradoxically erode the very market demand that sustains corporate profits. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.