I think it is more accurate to fear the transition. Economically speaking, there will be turbulence. We have already seen some companies try to eliminate all their employees and replace them with AI. But we have already been here before. I work in railroading, and in the 80s they all got rid of huge portions of their employees by replacing them with computers. Those people found new jobs, and some of them fell on hard times, while some made out better. There are whole industries that were completely transformed due to technology changes in the past forty years. But it wasn’t the end of the world. It was just turbulent for some.
So for me, I’m not worried, but I am weary. I welcome AI as a new tool for humans to use. I just don’t welcome poor decision making from shareholders and shitty management.
It can construed as a side step around the protected classes. Which means it could open up the opportunity to be sued. Since there are so very many lawsuits on the books about this, there is a likelihood that there is a precedent that would hurt someone who tried to use this side stepping idea. So most (wise) employers would avoid doing this to avoid the risk. It isn’t black and white.