The Golden Era of A.I.: Innovation, Layoffs, and What Comes Next
It seems like every company is jumping on the A.I. trend. Large conglomerates are spending billions to capitalize on the rapidly developing industry, and smaller firms are paving their own way through stiff competition. Regardless of sector, investment is surging, but as valuations climb, consumers and the workforce are shouldering the cost. Companies must reinvent their strategic A.I. roadmaps if they intend to adapt to the shifting market. At LegisLogiq, we track these trends, share regulatory updates, and remain nimble in the ever-changing A.I. regulatory landscape — stay tuned next week as we share our July 2025 Regulatory Update from our Head of Policy & Advocacy.
“I think most leaders and most organizations are lagging right now... Either the wrong person or no one owns A.I. planning at the company...and no one’s driving it.”
The age of emerging A.I. has been brewing for a few years, but now that I’ve seen one-too-many egregious examples of A.I.-generated art on transit ads in Washington, D.C., I know it’s already in the clutches of the eager and over-zealous.
As a marketer and creative who uses A.I. to augment workflows, I believe there is a conscious, practical way to engage with the tech. Unfortunately, the most publicized corporate uses of A.I. tend to lean dystopian: mass layoffs dressed as “efficiency,” environmental concerns, and copy-paste content degrading large language model (LLM) quality. One might assume public backlash would temper these decisions, but earnings calls and investor reports paint a more complex picture.
Companies starry-eyed by A.I.
When Duolingo CEO, Luis von Ahn announced the beloved platform would “gradually stop using contractors to do work that A.I. can handle,” their LinkedIn post sparked immediate backlash. The post, capped with an appeal to the company’s values, “what doesn’t change: We will remain a company that cares deeply about its employees,” seemed to miss its streak with users.
For a company in the business of language — it’s giving tone deaf. Duolingo’s brand is built on human wit; its gamified playful UX, cheeky ad campaigns, and culturally relevant tone have created a cult following due to it’s culturally-relevant brand persona. And yet, despite online critique and even surprise from the CEO himself at the intensity of the reaction, Duolingo’s stock is rising. In their Q1 2025 earnings call, the company reported continued user growth, which is a stark reminder that internet discourse and investor confidence don’t always align.
“A.I. could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs — and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years.”
In April 2025, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke announced that in lieu of hiring or allocating more resources, employees are expected to prove why they “cannot get what they want done using A.I.” before submitting their requests. Online commentary was swift, with critics labeling the policy tone-deaf and exploitative. Despite the anger, the next month, Shopify released a trove of updates powered by artificial intelligence, from a virtual assistant to updates to their proprietary A.I., Sidekick.
I can’t help but take a moment to discuss the state of the Shopify blog post and how it is a stark example of how not to use A.I. For example, em-dashes appear in 10 out of 17 paragraphs, an increasingly more obvious tell that written copy has very little human writing or editing. Incorporating A.I. into your workflow is the new normal, but when deployed as a substitute for human creativity and work, it often falls flat if used irresponsibly. Your audience will notice these errors and it quite frankly looks sloppy. As a lover and user of em-dashes, I feel determined to reclaim the symbol, and my sentiment is met with a chorus of journalists, academics, and internet users that agree.
Still, Shopify’s digital future remains rosy. A June 2025 partnership with Coinbase only solidified its foothold in fintech, and according to analysts, the company’s aggressive go-to-market strategy during tariff headwinds has “paid off handsomely.”
As we see time and time again, companies are racing toward automation without proper caution and often overlook the long-term human impact in favor of short-term innovation wins.
A.I.’s High Highs and Low Lows
A.I. is undoubtedly in its golden era. Companies that embrace and operationalize A.I. are rewarded with record-breaking valuations, venture capital interest, and stock surges. But the sheen of innovation is clouding something deeper, growing public discomfort and mounting evidence of harm.
The impact on labor is especially stark. Workers struggle to keep up and “entry-level positions are being displaced by artificial intelligence at higher rates.” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced to employees on June 17, 2025, “in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using A.I. extensively across the company.” Intel is also targeting job reductions between 15% and 20%, with most of the cuts taking place in July 2025 as manufacturing VP Naga Chandrasekaran warned “these are difficult actions but essential to meet our affordability challenges and current financial position of the company.” This trend of prioritizing corporate interests over human costs continues to amplify the already fractured economy. The ideal A.I. integration strategy leverages the power of skilled labor to augment work and shouldn’t serve as a replacement for human labor.
Is A.I.’s flop era incoming?
“We may also have arrived at the peak of the A.I. bubble, or it may still have a year or two before deflation.”
A.I. is having a moment, but like most tech hype cycles, the crash may not be far behind. Beneath the Studio Ghibli-inspired buzz, and action figure trends going viral on social media, are quieter truths to the tech — massive energy consumption, misinformation, and declining content quality.
At the same time, the legal landscape is starting to shift in favor of the tech industry. In a recent ruling covered by Reuters, a judge concluded that Anthropic made fair use of copyrighted books to train its A.I. model. While the judge acknowledged that pirating authors’ books could not be justified, the decision still favored the company. This sets a notable precedent for how creative labor is treated in the development of generative models.
The environmental impact of A.I. continues to grow. “A.I. data centers are massively contributing to the continued rise in power demand, which itself contributes to the continued rise in global emissions,” said Financial Times climate reporter Kenza Bryan in an interview with PBS. “And most importantly, it’s growing faster than grid capacities.”
Meanwhile, the creative potential of A.I. is starting to feel a bit more repetitive. Experts have found that while these models can generate a high volume of ideas, those ideas often feel too similar. Critics have coined the term “A.I. slop” to describe the flood of low-quality, unwanted content spreading across social media, art, books, and search results. The same social media trends are causing the A.I. to build on top of those images as reference points. Think Inception but with an A.I. slop lens. The problem isn’t the technology itself, but the short-sighted way it is being deployed.
What Comes Next?
At LegisLogiq, we’re firm believers in innovation that incorporates policy, creativity, and accountability. This isn’t just about regulatory compliance but about crafting a future where tech amplifies human potential instead of replacing it.
Like every golden era that came before, this won’t last forever. What we do in this moment, how we plan, resist shortcuts, and legislate with nuance, will determine if the next era is sustainable, equitable, and remains golden.
At LegisLogiq, we help organizations navigate the fast-moving world of A.I. regulation with clarity, creativity, and foresight. Whether you’re exploring policy compliance, advocacy, or looking to redefine your A.I. strategy, our team is here to help. From messaging guidance to partnership opportunities, contact us and someone from our team will connect with you.