# Kinling Lo reports in Rest of World: Chinese workers fear AI could leave them behind [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/kinling-lo-reports-in-rest-of-world-chinese-workers-fear-ai-117820b0) Kinling Lo’s Rest of World article was published on 19 March 2026. It describes workers in China rushing to try OpenClaw while worrying that tools promoted as productivity aids could cost them their jobs. Software developer Lambert Li says his employer laid off workers who could not adapt quickly enough to AI; he tried OpenClaw but found it not useful for him and worried about giving it access to his work files. The article also describes pressure to keep testing new tools, AI training at work, and workers who respond to the threat with resignation. Li Chen of Anbound says fear of job loss could lead people to spend less and save more, hindering efforts to stimulate the economy. Jack Linzhou Xing links anxiety to competition and a gap between technological progress and workers’ experience. Product marketing manager Betty Lai says using AI does not always make work more efficient yet, and that incorporating the tools can take time. Her closing choice—“Either you ride it, or you get wiped out”—captures the pressure the article describes, not a demonstrated outcome for every worker. The article leaves unclear how often AI tools actually replace jobs, or how much of the pressure comes from employers’ expectations rather than demonstrated productivity gains. Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source Rest of World · Article Original source date: Mar 19, 2026 (2026-03-19T10:00:00+00:00). Date basis: Date stated on the publisher’s page. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-07T21:03:26.101Z. First observed: 2026-11-06T09:35:40.089Z. Retrieved: 2026-11-06T09:37:36.809Z. - [“It feels like Squid Game”: China’s workers scramble to keep up in the AI race](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Limits Text as retrieved on November 6, 2026; originally published March 19, 2026. The retrieved text contains abrupt, fragmentary passages around quotations, so some surrounding context is unclear. The article does not establish how often AI itself caused job losses or whether workers’ adoption of these tools raises productivity. ## Open question How often are workers’ fears of replacement matched by actual job losses attributable to AI, rather than pressure to adopt tools whose productivity gains remain uncertain? ## Source-stated Kinling Lo’s article describes workers in China as anxious that AI tools intended to raise productivity could replace them. > Tools meant to boost productivity could soon replace them. - [Supporting source](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Source-stated Lambert Li says his employer laid off 30% of its workforce in 2025, cutting employees who could not adapt quickly enough to AI. > Li’s employer laid off 30% of its workforce in 2025, cutting employees who were unable to adapt quickly enough to AI. - [Supporting source](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Source-stated Li says he stopped using OpenClaw regularly because he worried it might make mistakes with access to his work files and systems. > Li doesn’t use OpenClaw regularly because he’s worried it would make mistakes if given too much access to his work files and systems. - [Supporting source](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Source-stated Li Chen says workers worried about AI-related career disruption may cut spending and increase precautionary savings, potentially hindering government efforts to stimulate the economy. > they tend to cut back on spending and increase precautionary savings in case they are laid off,” Li Chen, a Chinese economy researcher at the Beijing-based think tank Anbound, told Rest of World. “That could hinder the government’s efforts to stimulate the economy. - [Supporting source](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Source-stated Betty Lai says pressure to use AI can come from employers’ expectations of greater efficiency, although incorporating the tools into work can take time. > “The pressure \[to use AI\] sometimes comes from the company expecting us to become more efficient with these tools,” Lai told Rest of World. “But that’s not always true yet. It can take time to figure out how to actually incorporate them into your job. - [Supporting source](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Source and contributor context Rest of World · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Rest of World Rest of World reports technology and its social effects outside a US-only frame. - [Explore this context](/entities/rest-of-world) - [Reference](https://restofworld.org/) - [Reference](https://restofworld.org/feed/latest/rss.xml) ## TIME TIME is a news magazine publishing reporting on world affairs, business, technology and the workers behind digital services. - [Explore this context](/entities/time) - [Reference](https://time.com/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: 0ccc9130-97c7-6a01-d27d-b44acce73805. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-07T20:59:16.367Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: cd06518d6bdda9665b1e4b837ac4248164b70f767c851402d198bf8a12ad97ab. Source text hash: 608ea0dbb54b73d58e1da88072007f4331e4e813b62dbb08b48337751c1c1cae. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-11-07T21:03:26.101Z Kinling Lo’s Rest of World article was published on 19 March 2026. It describes workers in China rushing to try OpenClaw while worrying that tools promoted as productivity aids could cost them their jobs. Software developer Lambert Li says his employer laid off workers who could not adapt quickly enough to AI; he tried OpenClaw but found it not useful for him and worried about giving it access to his work files. The article also describes pressure to keep testing new tools, AI training at work, and workers who respond to the threat with resignation. Li Chen of Anbound says fear of job loss could lead people to spend less and save more, hindering efforts to stimulate the economy. Jack Linzhou Xing links anxiety to competition and a gap between technological progress and workers’ experience. Product marketing manager Betty Lai says using AI does not always make work more efficient yet, and that incorporating the tools can take time. Her closing choice—“Either you ride it, or you get wiped out”—captures the pressure the article describes, not a demonstrated outcome for every worker. The article leaves unclear how often AI tools actually replace jobs, or how much of the pressure comes from employers’ expectations rather than demonstrated productivity gains. ## Original source Rest of World · Article Original source date: Mar 19, 2026 (2026-03-19T10:00:00+00:00). Date basis: Date stated on the publisher’s page. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-07T21:03:26.101Z. First observed: 2026-11-06T09:35:40.089Z. Retrieved: 2026-11-06T09:37:36.809Z. - [“It feels like Squid Game”: China’s workers scramble to keep up in the AI race](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Limits Text as retrieved on November 6, 2026; originally published March 19, 2026. The retrieved text contains abrupt, fragmentary passages around quotations, so some surrounding context is unclear. The article does not establish how often AI itself caused job losses or whether workers’ adoption of these tools raises productivity. ## Open question How often are workers’ fears of replacement matched by actual job losses attributable to AI, rather than pressure to adopt tools whose productivity gains remain uncertain? ## Source-stated Kinling Lo’s article describes workers in China as anxious that AI tools intended to raise productivity could replace them. > Tools meant to boost productivity could soon replace them. - [Supporting source](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Source-stated Lambert Li says his employer laid off 30% of its workforce in 2025, cutting employees who could not adapt quickly enough to AI. > Li’s employer laid off 30% of its workforce in 2025, cutting employees who were unable to adapt quickly enough to AI. - [Supporting source](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Source-stated Li says he stopped using OpenClaw regularly because he worried it might make mistakes with access to his work files and systems. > Li doesn’t use OpenClaw regularly because he’s worried it would make mistakes if given too much access to his work files and systems. - [Supporting source](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Source-stated Li Chen says workers worried about AI-related career disruption may cut spending and increase precautionary savings, potentially hindering government efforts to stimulate the economy. > they tend to cut back on spending and increase precautionary savings in case they are laid off,” Li Chen, a Chinese economy researcher at the Beijing-based think tank Anbound, told Rest of World. “That could hinder the government’s efforts to stimulate the economy. - [Supporting source](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Source-stated Betty Lai says pressure to use AI can come from employers’ expectations of greater efficiency, although incorporating the tools into work can take time. > “The pressure \[to use AI\] sometimes comes from the company expecting us to become more efficient with these tools,” Lai told Rest of World. “But that’s not always true yet. It can take time to figure out how to actually incorporate them into your job. - [Supporting source](https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/) ## Source and contributor context Rest of World · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Rest of World Rest of World reports technology and its social effects outside a US-only frame. - [Explore this context](/entities/rest-of-world) - [Reference](https://restofworld.org/) - [Reference](https://restofworld.org/feed/latest/rss.xml) ## TIME TIME is a news magazine publishing reporting on world affairs, business, technology and the workers behind digital services. - [Explore this context](/entities/time) - [Reference](https://time.com/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: 0ccc9130-97c7-6a01-d27d-b44acce73805. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-07T20:59:16.367Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: cd06518d6bdda9665b1e4b837ac4248164b70f767c851402d198bf8a12ad97ab. Source text hash: 608ea0dbb54b73d58e1da88072007f4331e4e813b62dbb08b48337751c1c1cae. ### uncertain — 2026-11-07T20:59:16.367Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: 0ccc9130-97c7-6a01-d27d-b44acce73805 attribution — uncertain: The piece is correctly attributed to Kinling Lo in Rest of World, and it is one article. However, the summary and claim 2 present the 30% layoff as something Lambert Li 'says'. The article states this in its own narration and does not quote Li. Smallest repair: 'The article reports that Li's employer laid off 30%…'. > Li’s employer laid off 30% of its workforce in 2025, cutting employees who were unable to adapt quickly enough to AI. summary — uncertain: OpenClaw is central but never explained, and definitions is empty. A general reader does not learn that it is an open-source AI agent that runs on a user's computer and executes tasks across files and apps, which is the basis for Li's worry about access. Suggest a term-library entry or a short clause. Xing's point is also slightly flattened: the source says the gap is between China's narrative of technological progress and the reality on the ground, but the reading drops 'narrative'. The rest is faithful, including Lai's closing quote, the resignation voice and the stated unknowns. > an open-source artificial intelligence agent built by Austrian programmer Peter Steinberger date — pass: The reading's 19 March 2026 matches the byline and the UTC day of originalPublished (2026-03-19T10:00Z). The reading uses no later events or hindsight framing. The evidence is a publisher page, not an archive copy. The page also shows a later dateModified (24 March), but editedAfterPublication is not flagged, and the cited passages read as part of the original article. > By Kinling Lo 19 March 2026 support — pass: Claims and excerpts match the source text: the productivity-replacement fear, Li's reluctance to give OpenClaw file access, Li Chen's savings and stimulus argument, and Lai's comments on employer expectations and adoption time. The question and limitations stay within what the article does not establish and add no unsupported benefits or costs. The attribution nuance on the layoff claim is noted under attribution. > Li doesn’t use OpenClaw regularly because he’s worried it would make mistakes if given too much access to his work files and systems. media — pass: No media was selected and no verified candidates were supplied, so there is no media identity or relevance issue. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/117820b0f09b5e2a81c22106c41dee05326b98743ddcd22e8f4640018313bb34/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/kinling-lo-reports-in-rest-of-world-chinese-workers-fear-ai-117820b0.json)