Context: The major U.S. trends in AI in 2025 – and what’s next in 2026 

There have been reductions in force, notably in administrative work, as businesses see AI helping improve efficiency, said Calli Schroeder, director of the AI and Human Rights Program at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. 

But they have not always gotten the hoped-for results, she added. 

“More and more companies that have … reduced their workforce after implementing AI are coming to the realization that the AI is not necessarily as accurate as they need it to be or it’s not really fit for specific purposes that they had humans doing as roles,” Schroeder said. 

“My hope is that next year we see kind of a pendulum swing back the other way and people re-hiring for those roles – or at the very minimum realizing that you need a lot of human checks and oversight for any AI system.” 

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