Blue-collar jobs are gaining popularity as AI threatens office work

AI, Regulation, and Political Power

• Some argue knowledge workers dominate politics and will rush to build legal moats around their jobs, citing bans like AI therapy.
• Others counter that owners/capital, not workers, drive policy; regulation is more about power and profit than protecting labor.
• There’s disagreement over whether AI-related rules (e.g., banning AI therapy) are primarily patient protection or occupational protectionism.
• A few note that many knowledge workers are actively pushing AI adoption, so depicting them as uniformly anti-AI is seen as inaccurate.

Blue vs White Collar: Demand, Status, and Limits

• Many see a shift toward trades as positive: real physical output, infrastructure repair, and green transition require electricians, mechanics, builders.
• Several welcome higher social status for blue-collar work and argue “if you work for a paycheck, you’re working class,” regardless of collar color.
• Others warn of over-romanticizing trades: work is physically taxing, cyclic, and only pays well when labor is scarce. If too many flood in, wages will fall.
• A key concern: even if trades are “safe from AI,” there may not be enough demand (or purchasing power) to absorb a mass white-collar exodus.

Training Bottlenecks and Apprenticeships

• Trades often require long, low-paid apprenticeships and limited slots, creating a structural bottleneck even when demand is high.
• Some claim trades intentionally restrict entry to keep wages up; others point to successful apprenticeship systems abroad but note access challenges.
• Older workers considering switching careers see multi-year apprenticeships at modest pay as unrealistic.

Impact of AI on Specific Work

• Industrial electricians and similar tradespeople express little fear of direct replacement but expect more remote guidance, AR oversight, or cost-cutting pressures.
• White-collar workers report LLMs are powerful but inconsistent tools: good for graphics, code snippets, and cleanup, weak at iterative design, hosting, or deep UX research.
• Licensed professions (medicine, therapy, certain trades) are seen as relatively insulated by regulation and liability.

Surveillance, Robotics, and Future Risks

• Some foresee AI-managed panopticon workplaces where blue-collar workers are micromanaged by AR and automated compliance systems.
• Others highlight emerging humanoid robots plus AI as a looming threat to manual work, though timelines (5 vs. 20+ years) are contested.

Media Narratives and Uncertainty

• Multiple commenters dismiss articles like this as clickbait or recycled “college is a scam / learn a trade” cycles that appear every downturn.
• Broad agreement: predictions are highly uncertain; AI could be overhyped or massively disruptive, and current narratives often serve existing economic interests.