Humanity is locked in an accelerating arms race, fueled by technology, with battlefields emerging in every corner of our lives. From Beijing community centers where seniors learn to spot deepfake video calls, to London charities running scam prevention courses, the pressure is on to keep up. Even professional translators in Shanghai and New York are scrambling to master new AI models to safeguard their jobs.
AI is rapidly redefining roles, faster than most can adapt. This isn’t accidental; it’s a key feature of the “disruption-as-a-service” business model. Big Tech now engineers a perpetual state of insecurity by creating relentless technological churn, rendering our skills and safety measures obsolete, only to then sell us the tools to catch up. This forces us onto an “upgrade treadmill,” an ever-accelerating engine of necessity. With no escape in sight, the only option seems to be constant upskilling, hoping the next wave of disruption won’t render our efforts futile.
China: A Glimpse of the High-Speed Future
In China, this upgrade treadmill is a daily reality, driven by rapid technological advancement, widespread social anxiety and a fiercely competitive tech landscape. The urgency to defend against rapid technological change is palpable.
AI-generated scams are a mainstream concern. Recent incidents, such as deepfake videos of celebrity diver Quan Hongchan used to defraud tens of thousands, have heightened public awareness and anxiety. In one notable case, British multinational design and engineering company, Arup, had its Hong Kong branch scammed out of HK$200m (approximately US$25 million) by fraudsters using deepfake video and voice technology to impersonate company executives.
Beyond scams, protecting one’s livelihood is paramount. Tencent’s recent open-sourcing of two world-class platforms serves as a prime example. The Hunyuan-MT translation tool, with its ability to accurately translate internet slang and contextualize conversations, sends a clear message to professional translators: master this technology to remain relevant.
Similarly, Tencent’s Hunyuan-Voyager, which generates 3D worlds from a single image, is poised to disrupt the video game and film industries. The decision by Chinese tech firms to open-source these powerful models is a double-edged sword. It democratizes access to cutting-edge AI, which is undoubtedly a positive development. However, it also forces everyone from tech-averse seniors to working professionals into a frantic race to upgrade their skills simply to stay ahead.
Echoes of a Trend on a Slower Timeline
The West is experiencing similar disruptive forces, albeit on a more fragmented and gradual timeline. Mainstream anxiety about AI’s impact is evident in the market, with platforms like Coursera reporting massive enrollment spikes for generative AI courses and non-profits such as the American Association of Retired Persons and Age UK offering courses on scam prevention and digital literacy.
These are likely early tremors of the shockwave already engulfing China. However, these market and societal forces are only part of the story. The upgrade treadmill isn’t just accelerated by innovation or consumer demand for upskilling; it’s also supercharged by a powerful new factor: geopolitics.
A prime example is U.S.-based AI start-up Anthropic’s recent decision to block access for Chinese firms and their subsidiaries. This isn’t merely a commercial move; it’s a direct, external disruption that forces affected companies and their workforces onto the accelerating upgrade treadmill. To maintain market relevance, Chinese companies previously relying on Anthropic must now seek out new models, potentially from domestic players like Tencent or by leveraging open-source alternatives. Anthropic’s decision, intended to disrupt the competition, has inadvertently supercharged the AI arms race.
The Individualization of Responsibility
The accelerating AI arms race has shifted the burden of career stability and personal security squarely onto the individual. Professionals must now enroll in courses, scan websites like Hugging Face and GitHub or pay for the latest AI technology just to stay relevant. This drive for upskilling is a direct response to the very real fear of job obsolescence. A recent Pew Research Center study found that over half of U.S. workers worry about AI’s impact on their careers, and a further 33% report feeling overwhelmed by the rapid changes.
Burden-shifting is a key feature of the disruption-as-a-service model. Meta provides an interesting example: The company’s platforms are often criticized for their role in spreading misinformation and have faced scrutiny for ethical concerns. Yet, Meta simultaneously promotes AI learning tools to help people deal with these very problems.
At the core of this emergent business model lies a paradox: Companies create harm, from deepfake scams to job displacement, and individuals must pay to fix it.
The Takeaway: A Universal Lesson
The global experiment with AI-driven disruption clearly illustrates the ultimate cost of this model. It’s not merely digital exclusion for those left behind, but a pervasive, society-wide anxiety and the radical destabilization of professional careers.
The lesson is clear: the global conversation must move beyond simply upskilling. These problems could be addressed with a new corporate and investment ethos that critically questions the prevalent “disrupt first, ask questions later” model. The goal shouldn’t be to condemn humanity to a perpetual arms race with technology. We could work to ensure that technology is developed and deployed to genuinely serve our well-being and security from its very inception, rather than becoming a source of insecurity. The choice isn’t whether AI will disrupt, but whether disruption remains Big Tech’s business model. That’s a treadmill we can step off — if we decide to build it differently.
