It could be vastly underestimated how much human expertise is needed to diffuse the benefits of AI to the long-tail of knowledge work. I think more data companies should figure out this branding, where experts help AI companies understand how to improve the tools that make them more effective, rather than replaced.
Some jobs will be replaced for sure, but I think a lot of knowledge work is deeply interpersonal, messy, and context driven in a way where AI adoption will be a productivity boon to existing employees. We are seeing this with the demand for SWEs today.
This rebrand will serve the AI industry writ large very well, but goes against the RSI narratives of the labs as "ASI will replace all knowledge work." In some ways, the difference is more philosophical about "what is the nature of work." I believe knowledge work is much more human than the evals give credit for, and this will make diffusion take a long time. Seems like Mercor can be at the center of this diffusion puzzle.
Disclosure: Yes, I advise Mercor on trying to realize this puzzle, as I think it's super interesting.