---
title: "Depression Rises Among Young Workers in AI-Heavy Industries"
description: "A study reported in Korea links working in AI-heavy industries to rising depression among young workers and calls for mental health policies to address it."
kind: "wire"
section: "Mind"
author: "Josh Alley"
author_url: "https://hastalavista.ai/authors/alley"
published: "2026-10-06T17:54:18.667Z"
updated: "2026-10-06T17:54:18.667Z"
canonical: "https://hastalavista.ai/mind/depression-rises-among-young-workers-in-ai-heavy-industries"
source_url: "https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2026/10/07/NEHYA2ZASNFZPAQV7EOXLKRGKA/"
source_name: "조선일보"
---

# Depression Rises Among Young Workers in AI-Heavy Industries

*A study reported in Korea links working in AI-heavy industries to rising depression among young workers and calls for mental health policies to address it.*

By [Josh Alley](https://hastalavista.ai/authors/alley) · October 6, 2026

Source: [Depression Rises Among Young Workers in AI-Heavy Industries](https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2026/10/07/NEHYA2ZASNFZPAQV7EOXLKRGKA/) — 조선일보

## Human take

*These are the author’s thoughts, made without AI and typed directly into our publishing software without assistance.*

When you see what AI can do at the frontier, you cannot unsee it. AI is a superpower that reduces the specialness of intelligence and human skill. That's hard to grapple with.

- Intelligence, including genius, is now a commodity on tap
- Digital human skills, including software development, are now a commodity on tap
- The goal is to commoditize as much of everything, incentivized by the profit potential

> **Thought exercise**
>
> What makes you feel good about yourself?
>
> Is it that you did well in school, maybe got some great street smarts that helped you in life, or maybe your excellence at your job was fulfilling and gave you a sense of pride about yourself?
>
> For a lot of people, AI is going to be better at the work product than humans. The incentive structure of capitalism is to make more money. Humans are usually the most expensive input for P&L. If AI is better than the human, and the human is expensive, the human will be replaced. Or, there will be more growth potential due to being able to *not* hire additional labor.
>
> What does this do to the mind? How would we address an onslaught of labor displacement on a human level? The loss of a sense of self, the impact to the emotional state, could be quite devastating on a scale that's new to our life experience.