AI Automation of Human Work: Famed Researcher Launches Mechanize to Replace All Jobs—And It’s Sparking Outrage

AI automation of human work takes center stage as researcher Tamay Besiroglu launches Mechanize, a startup aiming to replace all jobs. Discover the controversy, implications, and what this means for the future of work.

Introduction: A Startup That Aims to Replace Every Human Job

In the ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence, there’s a fine line between ambition and absurdity. That line may have been crossed—or at least thoroughly tested—by Tamay Besiroglu, a renowned AI researcher and co-founder of the respected AI research institute Epoch, who recently launched a controversial new startup, Mechanize.

Unveiled via a casual post on X (formerly Twitter), Mechanize has already ignited a digital firestorm with its bold mission: the complete automation of all labor. Yes, you read that correctly—every human job, replaced by AI agents. From white-collar tasks to blue-collar trades (eventually), Mechanize wants to make AI agents capable of doing it all.

While some hail the vision as groundbreaking, many others are concerned, alarmed, or outright furious. But beneath the provocative messaging lies a technical goal with real implications for the global economy.

What is Mechanize, and Why Is It So Controversial?

Launched on April 18 by Tamay Besiroglu, Mechanize defines its mission as enabling the “full automation of all work” and facilitating the “full automation of the economy.”

At its core, Mechanize plans to provide:

• Massive datasets for training AI agents
• Robust performance evaluations
• Digital environments to simulate and execute complex workflows

Its ultimate goal? Empower organizations—or even individuals—to deploy fleets of AI agents capable of performing any job currently done by a human.

Calculating the “Total Addressable Market”

To illustrate the scale of this vision, Besiroglu framed the economic opportunity in terms of human wages:

• $18 trillion/year in wages paid in the United States
• $60 trillion/year globally

According to him, this is the “total addressable market” for Mechanize.

But those figures, while mind-blowing, also signal the stakes. If successful, Mechanize could disrupt the entire labor market, and that’s what’s raising eyebrows.

Backlash from the Tech and Research Communities

What makes Mechanize especially controversial isn’t just the mission—it’s who’s behind it and how it affects the credibility of existing institutions.

Besiroglu is not only a respected figure in the AI world but also the founder of Epoch, a non-profit research institute focused on analyzing AI’s economic and societal impacts. Epoch is known for producing neutral, data-driven benchmarks that tech giants rely on to gauge their AI models’ performance.

That reputation is now at risk. Many in the community feel that Mechanize compromises Epoch’s impartiality.

One director at Epoch posted sarcastically on X:

“Yay just what I wanted for my bday: a comms crisis.”

Another prominent voice, X user Anthony Aguirre, shared his disappointment:

“Huge respect for the founders’ work at Epoch, but sad to see this… I think it will be a huge loss for most humans.”

---

Funding and Influential Backers

Despite the controversy, Mechanize has attracted backing from several major players in the tech and investment world, including:

• Nat Friedman (former GitHub CEO)
• Daniel Gross (ex-YC and AI investor)
• Patrick Collison (Stripe CEO)
• Jeff Dean (Google’s chief scientist)
• Dwarkesh Patel, Sholto Douglas, and Marcus Abramovitch

While many have remained silent about their involvement, Marcus Abramovitch, a managing partner at crypto hedge fund AltX and a self-proclaimed effective altruist, confirmed his support.

He stated:

“The team is exceptional across many dimensions and has thought deeper on AI than anyone I know.”

---

A Future Without Jobs—or a New Kind of Prosperity?

Besiroglu defends his vision with a mix of economics and optimism. He argues that AI replacing human labor isn’t a threat—but a pathway to explosive economic growth.

In an interview with TechCrunch, he said:

“Completely automating labor could generate vast abundance, much higher standards of living, and new goods and services that we can’t even imagine today.”

According to this perspective, humans wouldn’t be jobless—they’d be wealthier, liberated from work, and living in a post-scarcity economy.

He also argued that even if human wages fall, people would still have income through:

• Dividends
• Rental income
• Government welfare

Critics point out a flaw in that logic: Who buys the goods if nobody earns wages? If AI agents are doing the work and earning the returns, wealth concentration could accelerate even faster than today.

A Shift Toward White-Collar Job Automation

Besiroglu clarified that Mechanize is currently focused on white-collar job automation, not blue-collar work that would require physical robotics.

This focus mirrors broader trends in AI development, where tools like:

• ChatGPT
• Microsoft Copilot
• Salesforce’s Einstein 1 are increasingly automating tasks in writing, coding, sales, and customer support.

Mechanize aims to improve on these by building agent-based systems—essentially AI “workers” that:

• Collaborate with each other
• Understand context
• Learn over time
• Can execute long-term strategies

But even the most advanced agents today fall short.

Besiroglu admits:

“They are unreliable, don’t retain information, struggle to independently complete tasks as asked, and can’t execute long-term plans without going off the rails.”

---

The Technical Challenge is Real

Despite the hype and outrage, Besiroglu is attempting to tackle a real and difficult technical problem. Agent-based AI systems are not currently capable of fully replacing human workers—but they are improving fast.

Companies like:

• OpenAI
• Microsoft
• Salesforce
• Inflection AI are all working on variations of AI agents, each racing to create systems that are:
• Context-aware
• Self-correcting
• Task-complete
• Collaborative

Mechanize, however, wants to become the infrastructure layer that powers all of this—providing the data, training environments, and evaluation standards that fuel agent development.

Ethical and Societal Implications

Let’s be clear: Mechanize is not just a startup. It’s a philosophical stake in the ground.

Its existence raises profound ethical questions:

• If AI does all the work, how do humans find purpose?
• Who owns the AI agents—and the wealth they generate?
• Should there be a universal basic income funded by AI taxation?
• What role do humans play in an automated economy?

Critics argue that Besiroglu is being utopian. They fear a world where jobs vanish but social structures fail to catch up—leaving the majority of humanity unemployed and disenfranchised.

Still, some believe that this is an inevitable future and the conversation must start now.

The Dual Role of Epoch: Researcher and Enabler?

One of the biggest concerns about Mechanize is the perceived conflict of interest between Epoch and its founder’s commercial venture.

Epoch was previously seen as a neutral party, producing benchmark reports that helped policymakers and companies understand AI’s risks and potentials.

Now, with Besiroglu launching a for-profit company based on insights likely gleaned from that research, critics claim:

• There’s a blurring of lines between unbiased analysis and commercial ambition.
• Epoch may have indirectly fueled the development of AI agents it was supposed to monitor.
• Trust in research institutions is being undermined.

This isn’t the first controversy. In late 2024, Epoch revealed that OpenAI had supported the development of one of its benchmarks—leading to backlash over perceived bias.

Mechanize Is Hiring—and Growing Fast

Amid the noise, Mechanize is pushing forward. The startup is actively hiring, seeking talent in:

• AI research
• Software engineering
• Agent modeling
• Simulation development

For all the criticism, one thing is certain: Mechanize has momentum.

Whether it fulfills its mission or fizzles out under scrutiny remains to be seen, but it has already sparked a global debate about the direction of AI, the future of work, and what we as a society should do next.

Final Thoughts: Disruption or Dystopia?

Mechanize is either a bold leap into the future or a harbinger of a jobless dystopia, depending on whom you ask. Tamay Besiroglu’s mission to fully automate labor sits at the intersection of science fiction, economics, and ethics.

What’s undeniable is the scale of the ambition. In a world increasingly driven by artificial intelligence, Mechanize is pushing the boundaries—and forcing us all to think harder about what role we want to play in the AI-powered world of tomorrow.

---

What are your thoughts on the future of work? Can AI create abundance without inequality—or are we headed toward a dangerous imbalance? Share your thoughts with us at DigitalAddaTech.com.