Source: Unpopular Front
The piece identifies a classic coordination problem: individual firms rationally pursue AI automation to cut costs and boost margins, but collectively they erode the consumer base that buys their products. Executives understand the paradox. The trap is structural—unilateral restraint is economically suicidal—which means the outcome depends on policy intervention rather than market self-correction. Waiting for business wisdom or voluntary slowdowns misunderstands how capitalism functions under technological disruption.