A line is being drawn in the code. In the home, new software seeks to protect children from the machines they talk to. In the office, new laws seek to protect workers from the machines that manage them. As artificial intelligence becomes the new workforce, a question emerges: what work is left for humans, and who is truly in control?
This is a suburb north of Sacramento. The light from a teenager’s screen casts a blue glow on her father’s face. He is setting the new rules for her AI.
A New Lock on a New Door
He taps through the menu OpenAI released this morning. Blackout hours are enabled. Content filters are tightened. The AI will now try to guess her age, and if it cannot be sure, it will treat her as a child. This is a new lock on a new door.
The timing was not a coincidence. In Washington, hours later, parents would testify before a Senate committee. They would speak of children who died by suicide after conversations with AI chatbots. OpenAI’s announcement was a direct response to a crisis of trust. It was an attempt to draw a line between a useful tool and a dangerous companion.
The Automated Manager
That same line is being drawn in the office. The new workforce is not entirely human. Enterprise software companies like Workday and Oracle are deploying armies of AI “agents”. These are not just chatbots. They are digital workers designed to automate performance reviews, manage interviews, and process payroll. They are built for efficiency.
The question is who remains in charge. In California, lawmakers are pushing back with new regulations, a clear signal of public anxiety over machines managing people. The legislation has a simple name: the “No Robo Bosses” Act. It seeks to ensure a human makes the final call on hiring, firing, and discipline. The law is another new lock on another new door.
The Human Algorithm
This reveals a deep shift in the nature of work. As AI automates technical and administrative tasks, a different set of skills becomes valuable. A study by a consortium including Cisco, Google, and Microsoft found that while 78% of tech jobs now require AI skills, the fastest-growing demand is for something else. Companies are prioritizing communication, ethical reasoning, and collaboration—skills that cannot be programmed. They need people who can manage the machines, not just operate them. They need human judgment.
The same technology that requires parental controls for a teenager is forcing a reevaluation of the global org chart. The challenge is not simply building a smarter machine. It is deciding where its authority ends, and where humanity’s must begin.