Saying you are laying people off because AI, makes the company look like it's innovating and embracing new technology. Saying you are laying people off because costs are up and earnings are struggling reflects bad on the image of the company and the performance of the leadership. Everyone has incentives to lie.

What we would be seeing if the AI uptake was productive would be faster GDP growth, and an uptick in the job market as they would be looking for people to leverage the AI into even more productive gains.