Big Tech companies may not say outright that AI is replacing people, but one tech investor is — and he says two professions, in particular, should watch out.
“Big companies talk about, like, ‘AI isn’t replacing people, it’s augmenting them,'” said Victor Lazarte, general partner at venture capital firm Benchmark, on a recent episode of the podcast “The Twenty Minute VC.”
“It’s bulls—t,” Lazarte said. “It’s fully replacing people.”
Lazarte said that two professions should be especially wary of AI: lawyers and recruiters.
He explained that within the next three years, AI will be able to take over the busy work in law, which often falls to recent law school graduates. On the recruiting side, Lazarte predicted that AI would take over interviewing candidates.
“There’s not going to be that many things” that AI can’t do, Lazarte said.
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The legal industry is already using AI tools. Earlier this week, legal tech startup Libra, which supports more than 3,000 lawyers and 150 law firms, updated its AI to help with every step of daily legal work, from research to review. Last July, the American Bar Association listed Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot as its top four tools for AI professionals.
AI has noticeably improved the quality of legal work, too. A March study from researchers at the University of Michigan Law School discovered that AI can improve how well law students put together legal analyses. Study participants found that the quality of their legal work improved by up to 28% with AI.
Meanwhile, law firms are racing to adopt AI. A Thomson Reuters study from July 2024 surveyed 2,200 professionals and C-Suite executives globally and found that law firms listed AI as their top strategic priority.
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On the recruiting side, firms are using AI to automate hiring. While Jobscan research notes that 99% of the Fortune 500 companies use AI to filter applicants, its influence reaches farther than just the initial stage of applications. A Resume Builder survey found that in 2024, over 40% of companies used AI to conduct interviews and “talk” to candidates. The AI screenings have taken some candidates by surprise.
Meanwhile, startups are busy exploring the AI recruiting market. OptimHire, an AI recruiting startup that finds candidates, conducts interviews, and schedules calls, raised $5 million in seed funding last month.
Another small AI recruiting startup, ConverzAI, raised $16 million in a Series A round in January to create virtual recruiters. Bigger startup Mercor, which uses AI to screen resumes and match candidates, raised $100 million in a Series B round in February. Mercor counts OpenAI as part of its client base.
Lazarte said that AI might replace jobs, but it also has the potential to help start new companies.
“You’re going to have these trillion-dollar companies being done by very small teams,” he predicted.
Benchmark has backed companies including Asana, Snap, and Uber.
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