Industry voices—Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Geoffrey Hinton—are unified: AI is advancing at a pace faster than anticipated, threatening to replace half of entry-level white-collar jobs in just five years. Despite dissent from figures like Meta’s Yann LeCun, the consensus is clear: companies are already deploying AI across domains, shifting how work is done. However, the speed of uptake has outpaced governance frameworks, triggering real-world concerns such as AI-generated hate content and voice impersonation (e.g., Senator Rubio). Beyond workforce disruption, AI’s rapid emergence underscores a global urgency: regulators, corporate leaders, and societies must catch up to manage ethical, economic, and societal fallout