Microsoft: 7 in 10 managers favor AI-skilled hires

The commentary draws a parallel to earlier technologies: when spreadsheets arrived in the 1980s, people worried accountants would become obsolete, and search engines were expected to replace researchers and librarians. Instead, those tools automated routine work and raised the value of workers who could analyze information, solve problems, and advise people. The author points to MIT economist David Autor's recent National Bureau of Economic Research paper, which argues AI's greatest economic opportunity may lie in extending expertise rather than replacing it.

The article illustrates this with healthcare, where AI can sift through data from continuous glucose monitors, heart monitors, and diagnostic tests faster than any human, spotting drifting glucose levels or irregular heart rhythms. But AI cannot decide whether a patient should change medications or how to explain findings to someone in an exam room. Similarly, at Abbott, the author says AI has helped IT, business, and distribution teams improve inventory placement and cut transportation costs, but people apply the advanced analytics and mathematical modeling behind it.

The stakes hinge on whether the combination of human judgment and AI fluency continues to be rewarded by employers, and on whether those skills remain difficult to automate. For new graduates entering a competitive job market, that combination may prove decisive, though the article's argument rests on the assumption that AI reshapes jobs more often than it replaces workers outright.