Microsoft's Brad Smith is pushing back against what he calls 'grandiose predictions' from tech leaders about AI and jobs. In an interview, Smith argues that economic transformation typically unfolds over about 25 years—not the 2-to-3-year panic cycle dominating tech discourse. He's especially critical of executives who warn that AI is dangerous while simultaneously accelerating its development, calling the contradiction a wake-up call for the industry. Smith notes that this year's graduates, already stressed by the pandemic and social turmoil, don't want to hear that AI will happen to them—they want to know it happens for them. Tech leaders, he argues, historically overestimate how fast technology arrives while underestimating human ingenuity. According to Axios, Smith frames the real work ahead not as preventing catastrophe, but as ensuring AI amplifies human capability rather than replacing it.

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