The AI Displacement Series
Read the original arguments about AI, work and ownership, and examine their assumptions against your own situation.
No email required. No paywall. Just start reading.
By George Pu
Updated
Inside the Series
Evidence, Frameworks, and a Personal Account
A collection of arguments, frameworks and examples. Reading it cannot certify a career as AI-proof.
The Original Market Context
The opening chapters discuss market reactions to AI and the interpretation presented in this historical edition.
The 5 Layers Framework
Questions about judgment, relationships, accountability and physical work; a framework to examine rather than a guarantee of protection.
The Math of Ownership
The original argument about ownership, employment and options, alongside its assumptions.
A Decision Account
The edition’s account of changing direction, preserved in the original chapters.
All 7 Chapters
- 1
What's Actually Happening
The original argument about market changes and entry-level work, preserved as a dated account rather than a current forecast.
12 min read
- 2
The Two Responses
The author’s original denial-and-adaptation framing, presented as one perspective on a wider range of responses.
10 min read
- 3
What Gets Displaced
A historical distinction between information work and judgment work; readers can test its assumptions against their own tasks.
11 min read
- 4
The 5 Layers AI Can't Eat
Five proposed layers of human work, treated as questions to investigate rather than guarantees of immunity.
13 min read
- 5
The Math of Ownership
A comparison of employment and ownership, with a dated correction distinguishing revenue, income and illustrative assumptions.
10 min read
- 6
What I Did
The December 2025 decision to sunset fintech, clarified by the author: official pivot around June 2026, a two-year customer transition, and an app that remains online.
11 min read
- 7
The Path Forward
The original closing principles and suggested next steps, preserved alongside current decision guides.
11 min read
Who This Is For
If any of these sound like you, start reading.
Knowledge workers in AI-exposed fields
Legal, finance, engineering, marketing, admin — if your work touches information, this is for you.
Founders building in crowded markets
Examine what customers value, what competitors can reproduce and which assumptions need testing.
Anyone who senses something shifted
You've felt the anxiety. You've seen the layoffs. You want clarity, not comfort.
People who want to examine their assumptions
Read the original thesis critically. Skepticism, constraints and a decision to stay can be reasonable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this series cover?
The original chapters discuss AI, knowledge work, ownership and a founder’s response to change. They preserve the arguments and examples of that edition; their publication date is not a claim that every statistic is current.
Can this series tell me whether my job is safe?
No. Its frameworks can help you examine tasks, responsibility and dependencies. They do not establish a probability or date of job loss, or guarantee that a role cannot change.
How should I use the five-layer framework?
Use it as a set of questions about judgment, relationships, accountability and physical work. Check those questions against your own tasks and evidence rather than treating the layers as a promise of protection from AI.
Is this series free?
Yes. Every chapter is available on the web with no email required, no paywall and no upsell.
Who wrote this series?
George Pu, founder of SimpleDirect. His current work is described on the About page; this series remains available as a historical edition.
The world changed
The question is whether
you change with it.
Start with the opening chapter, then use the current decision guides to record what applies to your work.
Start ReadingFree forever — no paywall