Summary of the Core Content
This article challenges the traditional notion that AI will first replace low-level employees, pointing out that the most significant impact of AI on the job market will actually be on middle managers. The reason is that the core value of middle managers lies in their ability to manage information disparities—ensuring communication between different levels and tracking tasks—and AI is precisely the tool designed for handling information. The article also analyzes the initial misjudgments made by bosses, the potential risks of eliminating middle management, as well as the real concerns that prevent them from changing: their reluctance to give up the power and control they currently have.
Detailed Breakdown and Interpretation
1. Why Have Middle Managers Become the Primary Target of AI?
The job of middle managers essentially involves handling information: reporting upwards, conveying messages downwards, coordinating across departments, assigning tasks, and evaluating performance—all areas where AI excels. They act like toll booths on a highway, not creating value themselves but facilitating the flow of information. Once AI, which can perform these functions efficiently, becomes available, middle managers will inevitably be replaced if their role remains solely informational.
What’s more detrimental is that many middle managers are ineffective: they may use jargon to appear professional, make employees work harder for no real reason, or create a sense of busyness through departmental rivalries. AI sees through these superficial values and eliminates them.
2. Three Major Mistakes Bosses Made Initially
Bosses initially thought that AI would start by replacing low-level employees, but they made three critical mistakes:
- Low-level employees represent the “last mile” that AI finds most challenging to overcome: Tasks such as on-site repairs, client meetings, and handling production line issues require human presence and immediate judgment, which AI cannot perform.
- Middle managers pose the biggest obstacle to AI implementation: They see their departments as their own territories and resist giving up control over information, using excuses like data security concerns or employee resistance (similar to the workers who destroyed the Spinning Jenny in the past).
- Middle managers are costly but replaceable: The annual cost of one middle manager is 800,000 yuan, while AI combined with a junior employee costs only 300,000 yuan, yet the outcome is similar. Cutting down on middle managers can save more money.
3. What Happens If Only Middle Managers Are Eliminated Without Changing the System?
Many companies think that eliminating middle managers equals organizational change, but this is a misconception:
- Power becomes more centralized, leading to increased bureaucracy: If incentives and promotions remain unchanged (with leaders deciding salaries and promotions based on personal impressions), the remaining middle managers gain even more power, leaving employees with no room for maneuver.
- There’s a talent gap and a loss of judgment: In the past, low-level employees learned from middle managers; now that AI does this work, the judgment skills of middle managers are not passed down to lower levels. Where will future executives come from?
- AI can become a tool for internal strife: Companies may use AI to generate arguments, leading to inefficiency as humans become mere puppets of the technology.
4. The Future for Middle Managers
To survive in the AI era, middle managers have two options:
- **Move forward and become “mini-bosses”: Take responsibility for business units, focus on performance, and share profits based on results.
- **Step back and become “AI coaches”: Those with specialized skills (e.g., understanding supply chains or manufacturing processes) can train AI models and design collaborative processes.
5. The Real Consequences of Not Changing
If middle managers do not adapt, they will face elimination:
- Bosses who resist change will miss out on the benefits of improved efficiency and competitiveness.
- The true cost of not embracing change becomes evident: companies that fail to adopt AI will fall behind their competitors.
6. The Real Reason for Resistance
Many bosses are hesitant to change because they value the feeling of being in control. However, with AI, the consequences of staying the same become clear: those who do not adapt will lose out in the competitive landscape.
Conclusion
AI is not here to replace people but to eliminate outdated functions. The only way for middle managers and companies to survive in the AI era is to embrace change. Otherwise, both will be left behind in this structural transformation.