> It would be quickly realized that the displaced employees could easily simply get an AI for themselves, and price the ex-employer out of business rapidly. I

> It would be quickly realized that the displaced employees could easily simply get an AI for themselves, and price the ex-employer out of business rapidly. I think you're missing the point. It doesn't matter who winds up running the AI, the AI is still doing all the work many people used to do, all of those people are still out of work, even if some of them displaced the old boss running lower overhead, most will still be unemployed due to the collapse of the demand for human labor. Increased productivity in the AI age means human jobs lost with no replacements coming.