AI may be transforming the way people work, but a former Meta product manager says it is also rapidly dividing professionals into two groups, those who know how to use the technology effectively and those who do not. Xiaoyin Qu, who earlier worked as a product manager at Meta and now runs startup SkillBoss, wrote in a post on X that she has been witnessing a clear gap emerge among people with similar backgrounds and qualifications as AI tools become more common in workplaces.
“The scariest thing about AI in 2026 isn’t some sci-fi scenario,” Qu wrote. “It’s watching people you know — people with the same credentials, the same caliber — split into two completely different groups in a matter of months.”
Ex-Meta PM says AI is dividing humans, under-performers have no value
According to Qu, the change has become visible among professionals who previously appeared to be operating at roughly the same level. She cited examples of Stanford graduates, former Meta engineers and startup founders who had comparable experience just a few months ago but now seem to be progressing very differently.
“I’ve seen it happen firsthand. Stanford grads, ex-Meta engineers, startup founders. Three months ago, they were all roughly at the same level. Now? The divergence is so obvious it’s uncomfortable,” she wrote.
Qu said some professionals have begun integrating artificial intelligence deeply into their work. Instead of using AI tools occasionally, they rely on them for research, coding, writing and automating large parts of their workflow.
“Some of them got really good at AI. Not just ‘using ChatGPT’ good, fundamentally different in how they think, work, and produce. Their output is compounding. Their depth of insight is compounding. They look like they’re playing a different game entirely,” she said. At the same time, Qu believes most people are still using AI in a limited way.
“And here’s the number that haunts me: 99% of people still use AI at the level of ‘What’s the weather today?’ or ‘What kind of flower is this?’” she wrote.
Among those who have adopted AI more seriously, the applications vary widely. Some professionals are coordinating AI agents to run entire workflows or businesses, while others use AI for research tasks that would normally require a team.
“The 1% who figured it out aren’t even one group,” she wrote. “Some are orchestrating AI agents to run entire companies, some use it for research that would take a whole team, some have AI write half their code, some have AI write all of it.”
Qu also said attitudes toward workers could change as AI tools become more capable. She argued that people may increasingly compare human performance with what AI systems can already deliver.
“What really unsettles me is how fast our patience is eroding,” she wrote. “The moment we feel someone performs below what AI can do, we don’t think ‘they need training.’ We think ‘they’re worth zero.’ Not less. Zero.”
Qu added that the economic consequences could be severe for workers who fail to adapt to AI tools. “The income implications are brutal,” she wrote. “If someone uses AI to produce the output of 10,000 people, they’re worth 10,000x the salary. Someone who can’t figure out a single tool? They might not be worth hiring at all.”
Similar concerns have also been raised inside Meta. In August 2025, the company’s chief technology officer Andrew “Boz” Bosworth said artificial intelligence could create a divide among software engineers depending on how well they adopt AI tools. “The engineers who master the tools to the point that they can’t themselves be replaced by the tools command a premium,” Bosworth said during an Ask Me Anything session on Instagram.
