The most pressing long-term threat to liberal democracies stems not from world leaders but from advancing technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), which risks replacing human workers across sectors. A 2025 Heartland Institute survey reveals that two-fifths of young Americans—the demographic most vulnerable to AI’s workforce effects—would entrust government operations to AI systems. In simulated war games, these systems often escalate to nuclear options, underscoring potential risks.
AI’s Dual Edge: Benefits and Drawbacks
AI promises advancements in medicine and manufacturing efficiency. However, it intensifies screen dependency and undermines privacy. While nations like Canada boast strong research with 1,500 AI firms, they trail in global rankings, placing eighth in Tortoise’s latest Global AI Index. The United States and China lead, fueled by massive investments.
Mega-corporations eclipse most countries in scale; their combined valuations surpass China’s GDP, with Apple’s market cap alone exceeding Canada’s. These firms influence policy through extensive lobbying and dominate financial markets tied to AI speculation. An estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide rely on their smartphone technologies.
Growing Public Anxiety Over AI
A 2023 poll shows three in five Americans view AI as a threat to civilization. Job displacement concerns mount, with MIT estimating at least 10% of U.S. jobs at risk. Graduate students highlight vulnerabilities in white-collar fields like human resources, media, and video games. Even academia faces disruption as AI mimics educators and therapists—imagine conversing with virtual Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung.
Software developers confront “skill-based technological change,” where AI automates coding. Atif Rafiq, former chief digital officer at McDonald’s and Volvo, noted in 2023, “We may be at the peak of the need for knowledge workers. We just need fewer people to do the same thing.”
Creative Industries in the Crosshairs
Canada’s $12-billion film and TV sector, employing 240,000, faces immediate pressure from AI-generated music and actors gaining audience favor. Geoffrey Hinton, an early AI pioneer and former Google executive, warns that AI’s ability to produce realistic fake images and texts erodes trust in reality: people “will not be able to know what is true anymore.”
Economic Shifts and Layoffs
U.S. economic growth coincides with fewer required workers. Tech giants report soaring profits amid widespread layoffs at firms like Amazon, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, and startups such as Block, led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, which cut nearly half its staff. This trend amplifies class tensions across the West.
Political fallout looms, especially for parties reliant on educated professionals. Diminished mobility, affordability woes, and tech wealth disparities fuel discontent. Progressive creatives may diverge from establishments optimistic about AI. The Brookings Institution forecasts a productivity boom, while investor Reid Hoffman claims AI will “elevate humanity.” As John Maynard Keynes observed, “In the long run we are all dead.”
AI’s Unexpected Survivors: Skilled Trades
Elite AI engineers and global investors may prosper temporarily. Remarkably, hands-on trades like mechanics and oil rig workers stand resilient. These roles prove hard to automate and gain demand from expanding data centers and energy infrastructure, from Saskatoon to San Antonio.
Young workers should prioritize trades over coding or specialized tech paths. As AI reshapes the economy, it creates winners amid widespread disruption, promising a challenging path ahead.
