For years, he thought he had seen it all. A software engineer with over two decades of experience, he had weathered the brutal collapse of 2008 and bounced back quickly. The pandemic hit, and again, he clawed his way back into the tech world within months. But when he lost his job last April, something felt different—quieter, colder, and far more unsettling. This time, the silence wasn’t temporary. The rejections weren’t followed by interviews. And the few interviews he did land? They weren’t even with real people, but AI agents.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Shawn Kay, a 42-year-old computer science graduate, is a creative full stack engineer specializing in VR, AI, and web technologies. He is witnessing firsthand how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the tech industry, not just in what it builds, but in who it leaves behind. In an interview with Fortune, he shared that out of 800 applications, he’s had fewer than 10 interviews. His inbox stays empty. And more often than not, he's filtered out before a human ever sees his résumé.
From Rs 1.28 crore to a few hundred bucks
He’s not a junior developer or someone new to the field. This is someone who was once making $150,000 (Rs 1.28 cr) a year, building products in what was considered the “next big thing”—the metaverse. But in the blink of an eye, that dream was overshadowed by the meteoric rise of generative AI. ChatGPT became the headline. And his career became collateral damage.
Today, Kay lives in a small RV trailer in upstate New York. With no tech offers in sight, he’s hustling to make ends meet, delivering food orders, selling old electronics on eBay, scraping together a few hundred dollars a month. It’s not for lack of trying. He’s constantly applying for jobs, reading up on AI trends, and even exploring upskilling options like tech certificates or a CDL license. But everything costs money, and after a year of joblessness, that’s in short supply.
Shawn warns of what’s coming
What’s more troubling is that Kay doesn’t see this as a personal crisis. He sees it as a preview. A warning. A glimpse into what lies ahead for millions of workers as companies race to cut costs and boost productivity with AI. The conversation has shifted. It’s no longer if AI will replace jobs, but when and how many.
The tabloid further reported that he’s anti-AI. In fact, he still believes in its potential. He calls himself an AI maximalist, someone who believes that technology, when used right, can transform the world for the better. But he has a problem with the way it’s being deployed today, replacing talent instead of empowering it.
Shawn points out the real problem
In his eyes, the real failure isn’t that machines are getting smarter. It’s that businesses are thinking smaller. Instead of augmenting teams and scaling innovation, companies are simply cutting headcount and shrinking ambition.
What did Bill Gates say about AI takeover?
On The Tonight Show, Bill Gates predicted that in just 10 years, AI will be capable of doing “most things” humans do today. This rapid progress, he believes, could end the traditional five-day workweek, ushering in a new era of two- or three-day work schedules. With AI replacing roles across industries—from logistics to healthcare—Gates sees it as a profound shift that could redefine work, free people from the grind, and open up more time for leisure, creativity, and balance. AI, he says, may become the catalyst for a work-life revolution. His concerns align with those of Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, who believes AI will eventually replace—not just augment—human labor.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Shawn Kay, a 42-year-old computer science graduate, is a creative full stack engineer specializing in VR, AI, and web technologies. He is witnessing firsthand how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the tech industry, not just in what it builds, but in who it leaves behind. In an interview with Fortune, he shared that out of 800 applications, he’s had fewer than 10 interviews. His inbox stays empty. And more often than not, he's filtered out before a human ever sees his résumé.
From Rs 1.28 crore to a few hundred bucks
He’s not a junior developer or someone new to the field. This is someone who was once making $150,000 (Rs 1.28 cr) a year, building products in what was considered the “next big thing”—the metaverse. But in the blink of an eye, that dream was overshadowed by the meteoric rise of generative AI. ChatGPT became the headline. And his career became collateral damage.
Today, Kay lives in a small RV trailer in upstate New York. With no tech offers in sight, he’s hustling to make ends meet, delivering food orders, selling old electronics on eBay, scraping together a few hundred dollars a month. It’s not for lack of trying. He’s constantly applying for jobs, reading up on AI trends, and even exploring upskilling options like tech certificates or a CDL license. But everything costs money, and after a year of joblessness, that’s in short supply.
Shawn warns of what’s coming
What’s more troubling is that Kay doesn’t see this as a personal crisis. He sees it as a preview. A warning. A glimpse into what lies ahead for millions of workers as companies race to cut costs and boost productivity with AI. The conversation has shifted. It’s no longer if AI will replace jobs, but when and how many.
The tabloid further reported that he’s anti-AI. In fact, he still believes in its potential. He calls himself an AI maximalist, someone who believes that technology, when used right, can transform the world for the better. But he has a problem with the way it’s being deployed today, replacing talent instead of empowering it.
Shawn points out the real problem
In his eyes, the real failure isn’t that machines are getting smarter. It’s that businesses are thinking smaller. Instead of augmenting teams and scaling innovation, companies are simply cutting headcount and shrinking ambition.
What did Bill Gates say about AI takeover?
On The Tonight Show, Bill Gates predicted that in just 10 years, AI will be capable of doing “most things” humans do today. This rapid progress, he believes, could end the traditional five-day workweek, ushering in a new era of two- or three-day work schedules. With AI replacing roles across industries—from logistics to healthcare—Gates sees it as a profound shift that could redefine work, free people from the grind, and open up more time for leisure, creativity, and balance. AI, he says, may become the catalyst for a work-life revolution. His concerns align with those of Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, who believes AI will eventually replace—not just augment—human labor.
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