Menaldo Says AI Raises Human Judgment's Value Despite 16% Entry-Level Employment Drop
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Jul 11
Menaldo Says AI Raises Human Judgment's Value Despite 16% Entry-Level Employment Drop
1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jul 11
Summary
A 16% relative employment decline in AI-exposed entry-level fields is real, but Victor Menaldo argues it does not amount to a white-collar jobs apocalypse.
AI can handle parts of white-collar work, he writes, yet cannot verify its own output, show auditable reasoning or signal error margins—making human judgment, trust and accountability more valuable.
Firms that cut the workers who check AI risk automating away quality control, leaving humans legally and operationally responsible when fabricated citations or bad figures reach decisions that matter.
Menaldo frames AI as a general-purpose technology like electricity: the payoff comes from reorganizing workflows, integrating models into systems and retraining staff, not simply subtracting labor.
That means the transition may still hurt early-career workers, but he argues the long-run premium shifts toward people who can detect errors, improve outputs and decide what is safe to sign off on.