Martin Ford

Futurist & NY Times bestselling author. New edition of #RiseoftheRobots ( about how

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

The new edition of "Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future" is now available!

I have extensively updated the book to cover the latest advances in generative #AI and robotics and to examine the future economic and job market implications of the unfolding AI disruption. The book focuses on what we can do as individuals, and as a society, to successfully navigate the looming transition into the age of AI. Order from the link in the reply!

@BasicBooks #RiseoftheRobots

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

Order the new #RiseoftheRobots 2026 edition here:

Paperback: https://t.co/NCvObpDy9F

Kindle: https://t.co/XV1UZ5kPUe

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

The new edition of "Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future" is now available!

I have extensively updated the book to cover the latest advances in generative #AI and robotics and to examine the future economic and job market implications of the unfolding AI disruption. The book focuses on what we can do as individuals, and as a society, to successfully navigate the looming transition into the age of AI. Order from the link in the reply!

@BasicBooks #RiseoftheRobots

[Breaking Math @breakingmathpod]

When Rise of the Robots came out in 2015, some people called it alarmist. Now AI writes code, drafts emails, generates media, and acts like a digital worker.

We talked with @MFordFuture about what changed — and what happens next. @BasicBooks
https://t.co/4GwWn0xtmE

[Basic Books @BasicBooks]

🤖 New to you! RISE OF THE ROBOTS by Martin Ford (@MFordFuture) is now available in paperback.

Updated for the unfolding AI disruption, this prescient classic shows how automation is changing the economy, undermining work, and reshaping our lives.

Learn more: https://t.co/RRlt8fTJ2v

[Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 @AndrewYang]

.@MFordFuture futurist & author of Rise of the Robots joins https://t.co/PjWTwI77T1 to talk is AI already displacing workers, why $725 billion in AI infrastructure spending requires labor cuts, and why white-collar workers most at risk may not be prepared for what's coming.

[Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 @AndrewYang]

He wrote the Rise of the Robots in 2015. What is @MFordFuture seeing now? https://t.co/MwTFckS5hY

[James Hughes @citizencyborg]

@AndrewYang talks with @MFordFuture, futurist & author of Rise of the Robots. Is AI already displacing workers, why $725bil in AI infrastructure spending requires labor cuts, and why white-collar workers most at risk may not be prepared for what's coming. https://t.co/mVTBGyRBru

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

@zerohedge https://t.co/6Bx1Od2Nc0

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

When railroads came along, many might have worried that horses would be displaced. But, in fact, trains increased demand for horses because they were needed to move people and cargo from the train station to the final destination. So horses seemed secure in the face of technological disruption! But then came cars, trucks and tractors. Suddenly horses could not compete because the internal combustion engine was better at nearly everything they could do.

Consider the analogies:

Railroad for horses == Computers for people
Cars/trucks for horses == Advanced AI for people

New edition of my book publishing on June 2:

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

@CaptMarkKelly New edition publishing on June 2. Extensively updated to cover the job market and economic implications of the latest advances in #AI.

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

@RBReich https://t.co/6Bx1Od2Nc0

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

@RBReich New edition publishing on June 2:

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

Order it here:
https://t.co/6Bx1Od2Nc0

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

My book, "Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future" makes broadly similar arguments about the potential impact of widespread job automation on consumer demand. It is essentially a "tragedy of the commons" problem.

New, extensively updated edition publishing on June 2. Link in the reply.

[Jack @jackcoder0]

Two economists just published a mathematical proof that AI will destroy the economy.

Not might. Not could. Will — if nothing changes.

The paper is called "The AI Layoff Trap." Published March 2, 2026. Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Boston University. Peer reviewed. Mathematically modeled.
The conclusion is one sentence.
"At the limit, firms automate their way to boundless productivity and zero demand."

An economy that produces everything. And sells it to nobody.
Here is how you get there.
A company fires 500 workers and replaces them with AI. A competitor fires 700 to keep up. Another fires 1,000. Every company is behaving rationally. Every company is following the incentives correctly. And every company is building a trap for itself.

Because the workers who were fired were also customers.
When they lose their jobs faster than the economy can absorb them, they stop spending. Consumer demand falls. Companies respond by cutting costs — which means automating more workers — which means less spending — which means more falling demand — which means more automation.

The loop has no natural exit.
The researchers tested every proposed solution. Universal basic income. Capital income taxes. Worker equity participation. Upskilling programs. Corporate coordination agreements.
Every single one failed in the model.
The only intervention that worked: a Pigouvian automation tax — a per-task levy charged every time a company replaces a human with AI, forcing them to price in the demand they are destroying before they pull the trigger.

No government has implemented this. No major economy is seriously discussing it.
Meanwhile the numbers are already tracking the curve. 100,000 tech workers laid off in 2025. 92,000 more in the first months of 2026. Jack Dorsey fired half of Block's workforce and said publicly: "Within the next year, the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion."
Nobody is doing anything wrong. Companies are following their incentives perfectly. That is exactly the problem.

Rational behavior. At scale. Simultaneously. With no mechanism to stop it.
Two economists built the math. The math leads to one place.

Source: Falk & Tsoukalas · Wharton School + Boston University ·

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

@sanjayuvacha Order it here:
https://t.co/6Bx1Od2Nc0

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

@sanjayuvacha My book makes a similar argument regarding the impact on consumer spending if jobs are lost to automation. Updated edition publishing on June 2:

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

@DaveShapi https://t.co/6Bx1Od2Nc0

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

@DaveShapi New edition publishing June 2. Updated to cover the latest advances in #AI

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

@MartinShkreli https://t.co/6Bx1Od2Nc0

[Martin Ford @MFordFuture]

@MartinShkreli New edition publishing June 2