AI: Full Speed Ahead in a Dark Unknown

Kristen Welker asked Bill Gates last weekend on “Meet the Press” whether artificial intelligence could lead to the end of humanity. Mr. Gates replied that if weaponized, AI is powerful enough to “drive events that cause a billion deaths.” “It’s pretty hard to get to 100%,” he said, almost comfortingly. Relying on AI companies to police themselves is insufficient: “No one thinks self-regulation is enough.” A failure to mandate safeguards is “completely irresponsible.” “We have created an intelligent species that in many respects is already smarter than we are.” In the next few years it will be “insanely smarter than we are.” READ MORE

Why candidates are burning out before they apply

Indeed found that 40% of job seekers feel unprepared to manage today's job hunt. The conclusion comes from a survey of 1,501 people who were actively either applying for jobs or casually looking. So, how many potential applicants decide the process is not worth starting?

A confusing job market

Applicants face a job market that often requires them to invest time without knowing whether a role is actively being filled or when a decision may come, according to Indeed. That experience can determine whether they apply at all. "In other words, hiring is limited, and it's straining workers," wrote the researchers. READ MORE

Auditor RSM explores IPO to ward off private equity-backed rivals

RSM, one of the world’s largest accounting firms, is exploring a possible initial public offering as a wave of consolidation transforms the audit sector and disrupts the traditional partnership model. The 100-year-old partnership, which held out against selling to private equity during the deal boom of the past five years, has been sounding out bankers and revamping internal systems to give itself the option of a stock market flotation instead, according to people familiar with the matter. READ MORE

This is how AI could kill us all (and we won’t see it coming)

For the majority of people, artificial intelligence (AI) feels more like a moderately useful assistant than an existential threat. It can summarise a legal document, diagnose a toddler rash, suggest ways of saving a dying rose bush and compose an obsequious email. It can also make up facts and quotes, overuse irritating phrases and get confused by planning a simple train journey.

As a result, few of us felt a bolt of actual terror when Evan Hubinger, who leads alignment science at Anthropic, wrote earlier this month that he believed that there was a 10 per cent chance AI could kill all humans within the next decade. READ MORE

AI Pioneers Warn of a Looming Threat: A Governance Warning Enterprises Can’t Ignore

A report co-authored by Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, two of the “godfathers” of modern AI, published on September 28, warns governments to prepare for what the authors call an AI “intelligence explosion,” according to a report by The Guardian.

The authors are concerned that AI systems could soon begin improving themselves without human intervention, accelerating development faster than governments can respond. READ MORE

Employer ghosting: Candidates are frustrated

HR professionals are all too familiar with the concept of job candidates ghosting them during the hiring process,but the same behavior from employers can be just as disruptive and impact the long-term employer brand.

A new report from Aerotek—a provider of workplace solutions for manufacturing, logistics, construction, aviation, facilities and maintenance—asked job seekers which factors have had the biggest impact on their job search over the past year. The top factor, cited by 44%, was employer ghosting, far outpacing others like a lack of human interaction, AI tools and application fatigue. READ MORE

CEO reveals the 'six-figure jobs' young Americans are overlooking amid labor shortage

America's shortage of skilled trades workers is straining homebuilding, infrastructure and a growing wave of commercial projects, as the industry struggles to bring younger workers into careers such as plumbing, electrical work and HVAC.

Home Builders Institute (HBI) President and CEO Ed Brady joined FOX Business’ Cheryl Casone on "Mornings with FOX Business" to discuss the skilled labor shortage and the need to expand training opportunities for young people and transitioning service members. READ MORE

This AI startup has 14 employees and a $10B valuation

Instinct has managed to turn a tiny team into a huge AI company, reaching a $10B valuation while still in early access and building an agent designed to handle the messy, mundane tasks of everyday life.

The company said Monday it raised an additional $1B from Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Coatue. Instinct has just 14 employees, making the size of its valuation particularly striking relative to its workforce. READ MORE

Workplace friendship starts to fade after coworker gets promoted

A promotion brings greater responsibility, higher expectations from upper management, and the need to demonstrate your ability to handle a new role. You earn opportunities for professional development and career growth, which are some of its biggest advantages. Still, it can mean increased stress, more pressure, less freedom to act casually, and the challenge of earning respect while maintaining fairness. And sometimes, relationships with colleagues start to change. That's exactly what happened to the employee in today's story. His coworker's rise to team lead didn't just change their workplace dynamic; it also transformed a friendship he thought would last. READ MORE

Mark Zuckerberg Might Have Finally Made Something That’s Actually Useful

The people have spoken, and they're curious about A.I. agents. Meta's new app, Muse, is No. 1 on the App Store. There's a shift at play. Most of the people using ChatGPT are asking it to do things that remain right in front of them. Answer this question, draft this text, or do something else right here in the app. Muse is meant as something different: a robot that performs tasks for you across the internet. Book a haircut, order DoorDash, get a bunch of supplies for my party. Muse does it on your behalf. It's a mass-marketed, mobile-friendly version of the machine-as-person work that power users are already doing with Claude and ChatGPT on computers. READ MORE

Why the Skills That Made Someone a Great Employee Can Make Them Ineffective as a Leader

You'll probably recognize this person. Technically exceptional, deeply knowledgeable and trusted with the company's most important work. Whenever a difficult challenge arises, they're the person everyone counts on to solve it.

Then they're promoted into a leadership role and something changes. They begin to create problems for the people around them. They might interrupt, overcorrect or take over. They may overlook others' contributions or communicate in ways that leave team members feeling diminished. Eventually there's fallout: Talented employees stop speaking up, avoid them or leave the team altogether. READ MORE

Jobs Hit Hardest in the AI Era Are Making a Comeback

Jobs that AI was supposed to replace are making a comeback, but mostly for senior workers, not the new graduates who trained for them.

Indeed job postings for software developers fell 73% from their February 2022 peak to February 2025, a slide that began nine months before OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot launched, according to an Investopedia analysis of Indeed data. But over the past year, postings for the most AI-exposed jobs have rebounded faster than those for less AI-exposed positions. READ MORE

Gen Z job seekers are bringing their parents to interviews. A career coach explains the new trend.

The stress of job hunting crosses generational lines, but Gen Z is doing things a bit differently. Most of Gen Z is either just entering adulthood or has been there for some time. They are the first generation not to grow up with many analog developmental milestones, such as answering a house phone or asking strangers for help reading a map. These are all things that help develop social skills that can be used in other settings.

A recent survey from Resumetemplates.com reveals a shocking trend. According to the resume-building website, of the 831 job seekers aged 18-23 surveyed, "77% say they have brought a parent to a job interview when they were job searching. About 13% say they always did, and 24% say they often did." READ MORE

Welcome to the millennials' era of stability stacking

Millennials are feeling insecure about their jobs, and they're piling on alternatives to traditional careers to build their own safety nets.

They're the largest generation in the workforce and are taking on multiple income streams, skills training, and other jobs outside their primary work to feel more secure — what Glassdoor terms "stability stacking." This comes as multiple job-holders are increasingly well-educated, middle-class earners, indicating that labor market instability is plaguing the generation that should be in their prime working years. READ MORE