By Paul Bean 

On Monday (10/27) Senator Bernie Sanders addressed a billboard campaign by Artisan AI, which states, “Stop hiring humans. The Era of AI Employees is Here.” 

Sanders posted the image on  X writing, “Billboards across the country are promoting the replacement of millions of jobs with AI and robotics. Great idea. One simple question: How will those displaced workers survive when there are no jobs or income for them?”

The billboards, visible in cities like San Francisco and New York, have brought attention to the future of employment, with Sanders raising the issue of how potential displaced workers will support themselves in an AI-driven economy.

The campaign is led by Artisan AI, a company founded in 2023 by Jaspar Carmichael-Jack and Samantha Stallings. “We’re excited to announce our $25M Series A, led by Glade Brook Capital, with participation from HubSpot Ventures, Oliver Jung, Day One Ventures, BOND, Soma Capital, Sequoia Scout, and others,” says their website. 

The company promotes its AI employee, Ava, an autonomous sales tool adopted by over 250 organizations, with plans to introduce two additional AI employees, Aaron and Aria, by year-end. 

Artisan positions its technology as a means to replace repetitive tasks, allowing human workers to focus on other areas. 

Sanders’ post has received over 1.2 million views and generated varied responses online. 

“omg you got baited by this startup,” writes user @BasedBeffjezos.

“As someone who lived through the transition from horse drawn carts to cars, you of all people should know,” writes @bitcloud

“Universal Basic Income. We need you to start talking about it again,” linking this article from 2016, “On the Record: Bernie Sanders on Basic Income.”

In the past, figures like Chat GPT founder Sam Altman and Elon Musk have both suggested ‘Universal Basic Income’ as a safeguard to the pending AI job transformation. 

The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report indicates a potential global displacement of 92 million jobs, balanced by the creation of 170 million new roles:

“AI and big data top the list of fastest-growing skills, followed closely by networks and cybersecurity as well as technology literacy,” says the WEF website, “Complementing these technology-related skills, creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, along with curiosity and lifelong learning, are also expected to continue to rise in importance over the 2025-2030 period.”