New Delhi, May 15 -- The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 ignited the artificial-intelligence boom-and elicited a chorus of warnings from AI bosses of an impending jobs apocalypse. Never mind that they have reason to talk up the disruptiveness of their products, or that rich-world employment is near all-time highs-the dark message has landed. Seven in ten Americans think AI will make it harder for people to find work; nearly a third fear for their own jobs. A dearth of openings for college graduates-especially computer programmers-amplifies the dread.

The past offers some solace for the anxious. Labour markets constantly change. Today's offices would be unrecognisable to a worker from 50 years ago. Never in modern history has technological prog...