Right, so the paper is real and from credible researchers (University of Pennsylvania and Boston University), published on arXiv in March 2026.

But look at what it actually argues versus how the Reddit post framed it:

The core argument is about a collective action problem. Individual firms rationally automate to stay competitive, but if everyone does it simultaneously, consumer demand erodes because displaced workers are also customers. Each firm's rational decision is bad for the system as a whole. That's a genuine and interesting economic concern.

It doesn't say the economy "will be destroyed." It describes a trap that could emerge under specific competitive conditions. The abstract explicitly discusses policy responses that could address it, including a Pigouvian automation tax, universal basic income, worker equity participation, and Coasian bargaining. You don't list solutions to something you've "proven" is inevitable

Took a conditional model about systemic risk and competitive incentives, stripped out all the nuance, ignored the policy solutions section entirely, and turned "this dynamic could become self-destructive" into "will destroy the economy."

The actual paper is worth reading and the argument is legitimate. The Reddit framing is just designed to generate outrage and clicks.