Walmart, AI and The Boiling Frog

 "Across the industry, the pace of change will be gradual, said [Doug] McMillon. For example, customer service tasks in call centers and through online chat functions will become more AI dependent soon and other tasks not ..." 

That's what The Wall Street Journal quotes in how the Walmart CEO sizes up the corporation's approach to AI. For example, there'll be no radical falloff in hiring. Instead that will be flat, even as the business grows. 

Amid all the scary rhetoric about how AI will trigger massive job elimination, this Walmart mindset is what should alarm workers the most. Essentially it plays out the dynamics of The Boiling Frog saga. The frog is placed in gradually warming water. Because of the slow pace the frog doesn't connect any dots and conclude: Danger. I better get out of here. 

Many have heard this anecdote so they know the rest. The frog is cooked. And so will workers be in many categories of jobs. Both at Walmart and elsewhere. 

Among the boiled frogs already have been content-providers who ignored signs of a shrinking market for those skills. I jumped out of the pot soon enough not to have gone financially kaput and to still have the energy to launch another solopreneur game.

Incidentally there's no Boiled Frog excuse for investing money, time and hope in a law degree in 2025. Head of Paul, Weiss Brad Karp made it explicit how AI would negatively impact demand for inexperienced lawyers. The headline in Lawyer Monthly reads:

"Junior Lawyers Will Be ‘Significantly Replaced’ by AI & Tech Experts, Says Paul Weiss Chair"

Yet, law school enrollment this fall is high.

The same with other advanced degrees such as the Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, although much of knowledge work is increasingly unmarketable because of the perfect storm of AI and cost-efficiency. 

Okay, the obvious takeaway here is: Be vigilant that you may be in the pot. Leap out. And what you should be developing are the soft skills. That's what will be needed to get, hold and move on to better work in the machine age, notes WSJ: 

"Essential human qualities, like the ability to connect with others and develop meaningful relationships, would become even more important ..."

Thrown off your game, maybe the first time since you started working? You made all the right moves and then the world moved in another direction.

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