60 Minutes Transcript: Artificial intelligence and the future of work

AI Jon:

This past week in Washington, America's tech titans met with President Trump to talk about, well, the future of humanity … specifically, will AI, artificial intelligence, mark the end of civilization as we know it? Only slightly less grave and only slightly less depressing, there's a related, more immediate question: Will AI take our jobs?

Real Jon walks out:

That right there? Not me … That was AI. So it is, we don't exempt ourselves in wondering: is any line of work safe? So far this year, U.S. companies have cited AI as the No. 1 reason for layoffs. AI, after all, doesn't sleep, or take sick days. Is this technology simply going to transform how and where we work, much the same way other workplace revolutions did? Or is this one different? Is the great job apocalypse upon us?

Tape:

Here in this nondescript office in downtown San Francisco, these 20-somethings are designing the future of your workplace.

You may not have heard of Mercor, but it's quickly become a leader in a booming new industry built around supercharging the already supercharged rise of artificial intelligence.

BRENDAN FOODY: We were, in January last year, about 20 people.

JON WERTHEIM: How many now?

BRENDAN FOODY: Now it's 400 people in San Francisco, yeah.