Essays··8 min read
China's Bank-AI Push Forgot the Middle
China's largest banks are automating the base of their workforce — branch tellers, credit clerks, back-office processors — while importing senior AI PhDs for the apex and eliminating the middle tier entirely. A Hangzhou court ruling in April 2026 drew the first legal line against pure AI substitution; the more serious reckoning arrives when the next credit cycle exposes the judgement gap left by the hollowing. The reskilling pathway that would close it does not yet exist.
china-bankingai-workforcelabour-marketsfinancial-services
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