10 sources behind this chapter. Each one carries a note on what it is doing in the argument.
The direct source for the Chapter 23 figures that AI exposes about 40 per cent of jobs worldwide and about 60 per cent in advanced economies.
Open this source Read the original
Georgieva, Kristalina. 'AI Will Transform the Global Economy. Let’s Make Sure It Benefits Humanity.' IMF Blog, 14 January 2024.
The floor-rising chapter uses Mercer’s survey to show the fear hardening: the share of workers worried that AI would take their jobs rose from 28 to 40 per cent.
Open this source Read the original
Mercer. 'Global Talent Trends 2026.' 25 February 2026.
An eight-month study inside a 200-person company, used for the uncomfortable finding that AI did not simply remove work. It increased the speed, volume and intensity of what people were expected to do.
Open this source Read the original
Ranganathan, Aruna, and Xingqi Maggie Ye. 'AI Doesn't Reduce Work, It Intensifies It.' Harvard Business Review, 9 February 2026.
Used as a brake on the loudest employment claims. Oxford Economics found signs of disruption, but the evidence for a broad AI-driven labour-market shock was still patchy.
Open this source Read the original
Oxford Economics (May, Ben, director of global macro research). 'Evidence of an AI-driven shakeup of job markets is patchy.' Research briefing, January 2026. oxfordeconomics.com/resource/evidence-of-an-ai-driven-shakeup-of-job-markets-is-patchy/ and perma.cc/4F35-4NLL
This study supplies the ‘brain fry’ numbers: more serious errors, more decision fatigue and a point at which adding another AI tool stopped helping and began making the work worse.
Open this source Read the original
Bedard, Julie, Matthew Kropp, Megan Hsu, Olivia T. Karaman, Jason Hawes, and Gabriella Rosen Kellerman. 'When Using AI Leads to “Brain Fry”.' Harvard Business Review, 5 March 2026.
This is where the book gets the estimate that generative AI could affect activities occupying 60 to 70 per cent of employees’ time—not necessarily whole jobs, but a great deal of what sits inside them.
Open this source Read the original
McKinsey & Company. 'The Economic Potential of Generative AI: The Next Productivity Frontier.' McKinsey Global Institute, June 2023. (The 60 to 70 percent automation figure.)