Two years ago, I signed up to work as a substitute teacher. I was determined to build my own business, a move that alienated my traditional Big Tech employer base. We were reluctant to relocate, despite shrinking job opportunities in Silicon Valley. At the time, it seemed like a rational decision.
The experience revealed something surprising. Both the kids and their teachers were incredibly sharp. It functioned like a perfect market. Substitute scheduling runs on an app where open shifts for absent teachers or principals trigger notifications that we can accept or decline. Often, these notifications arrive weeks in advance when staff schedule upcoming time off.
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As AI adoption expanded, I noticed available opportunities began drying up faster than before. Users had started deploying automated agents to instantly claim jobs the moment they were posted. By the time I saw a notification and hit accept three seconds later, the assignment was already gone.
I hold an engineering degree from Hungary. Following a tradition inspired by ancient Greek standards, engineers there take a professional oath upon graduation, much like doctors or soldiers. That ethical commitment meant I refused to resort to automated bots myself. After all, standard terms of service usually prohibit using automation on these platforms.
What I was witnessing was a textbook example of high-performance trading. Tech-savvy players deploy sophisticated tools to scoop up premium opportunities the millisecond they appear. Furthermore, you need vast datasets to verify whether a particular deal is truly worth taking.
Ultimately, these bots squeeze out average participants, making an otherwise efficient market far less balanced. Facing these automated odds, I began looking for alternative options. Eventually, I secured AI software engineering work at SpaceX and a business teaching role at San Jose State University to replace the lost gig-economy income.
The takeaway is clear: higher margins incentivize the creation of tools that turn open ecosystems into exclusive markets. When the risk of losing excess capital—the very force that normally stabilizes markets—disappears, structural problems inevitably follow with change. Whether that shift ultimately benefits the broader economy remains an open question.