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Human Impact

Human Impact

How automation, AI, robotics, and operational changes affect work, responsibility, and livelihood.

1.69M U.S. layoffs & discharges (total nonfarm, monthly)·BLS JOLTS·April 2026

→ Grid Burden · → Public Cost · → Market Pressure · → Disclosure Gap

Tier 1 · Primary record·501 disclosures backfilled·2023-06-272026-06-12·SEC EDGAR, verbatim & deduped

as of Jun 17, 2026·SEC EDGAR full-text search

Sector employment indicators · BLS · NAICS 518 Information Sector

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics · Tier 1 · NAICS 518 Information Sector · bls.gov/data
Reading framework — how to weigh an AI-layoff claim (we classify nothing for you)
Type A · True substitutionA human role/task is directly replaced by AI/automation.
Type B · AI-enabled restructuringAI enables smaller teams, but cost/margin/investor pressure also drives it.
Type C · AI-as-coverAI is cited publicly, but evidence points to prior overhiring, weak demand, or strategy.
Type D · Capital reallocationJobs cut in one area to fund AI infrastructure/compute.
Type E · Work intensification / human-value expansionRemaining workers produce more with AI, or AI creates new roles/value.
Not yet surfaced (no sanctioned feed wired):
  • NHTSA Standing General Order AV/ADAS crash reports — DISCLOSURE_INFRASTRUCTURE: no Socrata API. Data available as CSV/JSON downloads at nhtsa.gov/laws-regulations/standing-general-order-crash-reporting. Third amendment effective June 16, 2025. Wire requires download-and-parse pipeline.
  • State WARN mass-layoff notices — DISCLOSURE_INFRASTRUCTURE: STRUCTURAL_INACCESSIBILITY. No unified national feed exists; per-state sources are HTML/PDF-only with no sanctioned structured API. Not a BEI gap — a public records infrastructure gap.
  • O*NET task-level AI exposure (keyed Web Services / bulk DB — reference layer)

Corporate workforce / AI disclosures · SEC EDGAR

Zedge, Inc. (ZDGE)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-06-12
SEC filing
ServiceTitan, Inc. (TTAN)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-06-05
SEC filing
Gitlab Inc. (GTLB)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-06-02
SEC filing
Salesforce, Inc. (CRM)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-28
SEC filing
SYNOPSYS INC (SNPS)
SEC EDGAR · 8-K · 2026-05-27
SEC filing
WILLIAMS SONOMA INC (WSM)
SEC EDGAR · 8-K · 2026-05-21
SEC filing
Doximity, Inc. (DOCS)
SEC EDGAR · 10-K · 2026-05-19
SEC filing
BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. (BTAI)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-15
SEC filing
ALLURION TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (ALUR, ALURW)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-15
SEC filing
NETSCOUT SYSTEMS INC (NTCT)
SEC EDGAR · 10-K · 2026-05-14
SEC filing
XBP Global Holdings, Inc. (XBP, XBPEW)
SEC EDGAR · 8-K · 2026-05-14
SEC filing
Adicet Bio, Inc. (ACET)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-13
SEC filing
Evolv Technologies Holdings, Inc. (EVLV, EVLVW)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-12
SEC filing
CHEGG, INC (CHGG)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-11
SEC filing
Viant Technology Inc. (DSP)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-11
SEC filing
NOVANTA INC (NOVT, NOVTU)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-11
SEC filing
Cloudflare, Inc. (NET)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-08
SEC filing
BILL Holdings, Inc. (BILL)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-08
SEC filing
1stdibs.com, Inc. (DIBS)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-08
SEC filing
Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA, DNABW)
SEC EDGAR · 8-K · 2026-05-07
SEC filing
Block, Inc. (XYZ, BSQKZ)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-07
SEC filing
SOLAREDGE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (SEDG)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-07
SEC filing
TripAdvisor, Inc. (TRIP)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-07
SEC filing
Silvaco Group, Inc. (SVCO)
SEC EDGAR · 10-Q · 2026-05-07
SEC filing

Research context - worker sentiment

52% of U.S. workers are worried about AI's future impact on work; 32% expect fewer job opportunities for themselves; 16% say at least some of their work is currently done with AI (February 2025). By October 2025, the share using AI at work rose to 21%.

Tier 3 · Survey / research institution·Pew Research Center — "U.S. Workers Are More Worried Than Hopeful About Future AI Use in the Workplace" (Lin & Parker, Feb 25, 2025)·last updated Feb 25, 2025·update cadence irregular·↗ primary source

By 2030: 170 million new roles projected globally, 92 million existing roles displaced — a net gain of 78 million jobs. 39% of existing skill sets are projected to become outdated between 2025 and 2030. 40% of employers expect to reduce headcount where AI can automate tasks; 85% plan to prioritise upskilling.

Tier 3 · Survey / research institution·World Economic Forum — Future of Jobs Report 2025 (January 2025)·updated Jan 1, 2025·next expected Jan 1, 2026·↗ primary source

Automation Balance

Phase A · Pending

Is AI replacing, augmenting, intensifying, or shifting responsibility onto workers without power? Automation Balance classifies operator disclosures and labor indicators into four categories — Replacement, Augmentation, Intensification, and Oversight-shift — to surface how AI is actually changing the nature of work, not just the count of jobs.

ECI sub-layer: Human Impact · EASTON-LMC-2026-06-17-ECI-DOCTRINE, APEX RATIFIED 2026-06-17. Phase A — doctrine registered. No data wiring in current phase. Early Consequence Intelligence →

How the industry can do betterBEI · Better Standard

Advance workforce notification when AI or automation systems are projected to displace roles — not retroactive disclosure in an annual filing. Transition support requirements as part of any automation deployment affecting public-company workforces at scale. Sector-level impact disclosure to workers and communities before market commitments lock.

Disclosures via SEC EDGAR full-text search; news via GDELT; baseline via the BLS JOLTS API. Aggregator, not author — we surface each company’s own claim alongside the public record and never adjudicate whether AI caused a given layoff. Autonomous-vehicle crash reports (NHTSA SGO), state WARN layoff notices, and O*NET task-exposure are tracked as pending until sanctioned feeds are wired. No bot-wall evasion.

Method & right of reply: we surface a company’s OWN public claim (its filing or announcement) alongside the public labor record (BLS JOLTS baseline, SEC filings) — each verbatim and linked. We do NOT adjudicate whether AI truly caused a given layoff, and we do NOT score any named company as dishonest (aggregator, not author — no opinions). The claim taxonomy below is a reading framework, not a verdict applied to anyone. Any named entity may contest an entry via research@brinley.institute.