A dated feed of new evidence, news, and ideas — the living layer that keeps this work current. Showing September 2026.
In a Detroit speech, Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said there are ‘some indications that AI may already be a factor limiting new job opportunities for entry-level workers’ in heavily exposed sectors — while stressing there is ‘little evidence of significant displacement so far’ across the economy. If change comes quickly, he warned, dislocations ‘might be large,’ and now is the time for society to prepare. Measured words from a careful institution — and a call to readiness the Church can answer too. Federal Reserve Board →
Using Texas public-university and workforce records, Dallas Fed economists find that after ChatGPT’s release, graduates from more AI-automatable majors became 1.7 percentage points less likely to find work within a year, and earned about 5% less than peers in less-exposed fields. More of them went back to grad school — mostly in the same field — and this fall’s freshmen began steering away from exposed majors. The wound right now is the closed door at the start. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas →
Collin Hansen (TGC, adapted from The AI Apocalypse) reaches back to Solzhenitsyn’s warning that the modern West has ‘ceased to see the purpose.’ His counsel is bracing: stop pretending you can keep up with or control AI — you can’t — and reclaim what’s irreplaceably human. A machine can deliver the product, but it can’t undergo the process God uses to form us; it is never patient, never wise. The question AI forces on us is the oldest one: what are we living for? The Gospel Coalition →
A Census Bureau working paper using administrative records finds that after ChatGPT arrived in late 2022, graduates from the most AI-exposed college majors saw their chance of initial employment fall five percentage points and their early earnings fall 13% — losses the authors compare to graduating into a large recession. About half the earnings drop is lower pay within the same industries; the rest is a shift into lower-wage work like restaurants and retail. The first rung is where this is landing hardest — and where belonging has to come before a résumé. U.S. Census Bureau →
U.S. employers announced 52,881 job cuts in August — the lowest August since 2022, even while up 58% from July. The shift worth noting: AI was cited in just 3,462 of them, falling to the 4th-most-cited reason and ending a five-month run as the top monthly cause. Yet for the year AI still leads — 116,175 cuts, about 22% of all 2026 layoffs — and announced hiring plans are running 37% ahead of last year. The AI-layoff wave cooled for a month; its yearly mark is unmistakable. The disruption is real, and uneven. Challenger, Gray & Christmas →
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