It's not so black and white. Arguably, this has already happened. When I phone the bank, I don't get to talk to a person right away. An AI agent asks me questions about what I am trying to achieve and also collects initial information to verify my identity before passing me off to a human agent (if that is even required.) These virtual employees have already joined the workforce. Over time, the agents will take on more responsibility.
This is already happening all over the place. Most notably in chat bots everywhere. But I see gpt/claude in every company I visit these days and replacing employees. Not given a title yet, so maybe that will happen?
It's not so black and white. Arguably, this has already happened. When I phone the bank, I don't get to talk to a person right away. An AI agent asks me questions about what I am trying to achieve and also collects initial information to verify my identity before passing me off to a human agent (if that is even required.) These virtual employees have already joined the workforce. Over time, the agents will take on more responsibility.