Bill Gates has proposed setting aside certain jobs for human workers only, a concept he calls Human Reserved, in a new essay on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI).
The Microsoft co-founder paired the proposal with a call to tax AI usage and robots. He argues that current tax rules give employers a financial reason to replace staff with machines.
Why Gates Wants Some Jobs Off Limits to AI
Gates compared the idea to nature reserves. Societies could build on protected land but choose not to, because the loss would outweigh the gain.
He told Axios that childcare and jury service clearly fit the category. Education and healthcare would be a mix, with protected workers using AI to extend their output.
The concept would take two forms. Some roles would stay human permanently. Others would provide temporary protection for workers who are too far into their careers to retrain.
“We might set something aside as Human Reserved for economic reasons. For example, we may do it because allowing machines to take over a certain role will displace a large number of people who can’t easily change jobs,” the essay read.
Gates put the ceiling at roughly 40% of jobs under the most aggressive version. He said he could not raise the estimate. He also expects dexterous robots to compete with people on some physical tasks by the end of the decade.
His tax argument runs alongside it. Gates explained that employers pay payroll taxes on staff but deduct equipment costs, which tilts hiring decisions toward automation.
“The tax system nudges you toward replacing people with machines,” he said.
Gates added that workers displaced by AI will need retraining and social support, even as reduced employment cuts tax revenues and strains government budgets. He argued that taxing AI tokens and robots could help fill the gap.
“I proposed a robot tax years ago and most of the reaction was that it was a strange idea. I’m still a big proponent of it. Although it is not the whole solution to the threat of AI, it is part of a wise response,” he noted.
Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens
AI Leads Layoff Reasons for Fifth Straight Month
The proposal arrives against hard numbers. Employers have cited AI in 184,538 job cut announcements since 2023, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
In July, AI led all stated reasons for the fifth consecutive month with 10,970 cuts, or 33% of the monthly total. The 2026 tally reached 112,713, roughly 24% of all cuts.
Broader figures complicate the case for intervention. July cuts fell to 33,429, the lowest monthly total in two years. Announced hiring plans rose 25% year to date to 107,500.
Andy Challenger, the firm’s chief revenue officer, offered a narrower reading of the trend. According to him,
“Hiring has also increased over last year by 25%, so while AI is shifting the labor market, it is not dismantling it.”
Goldman Sachs has found the strain concentrated among entry-level workers, with US call center employment sitting 39% below its long-run trend.
Gates leaves the harder question open: who would decide what qualifies as protected work, and how governments would police it.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights
Bitrue