There was a time, not long ago, really, when work meant other people. You had meetings you didn’t want to attend, conversations in the kitchen that went on too long and a string of half-formed thoughts that somehow became an idea. The pace was slower, yes, and everything took longer than it should have. But there was something reassuring in the process, something human in the way things got done.

The phrase AI-first is everywhere now, passed around in press releases with the same reverence once reserved for “disruption” or “digital transformation.” It sounds reasonable, forward-thinking, strategic even. But what it really means, when you strip away the optics, is that we’ve started removing people from the equation.

In nearly every country, a version of the same thing is happening. Technology is being introduced, adopted, scaled, and embedded into the rhythms of work, care, hiring, health, education, and credit. It is described as a leap forward, a necessary change, a sign of progress. But what happens, again and again, is this: those most affected are invited in last, if at all.