“The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones” – Will Rogers
The Impact of AI on the Future of Work
My tendency to follow curiosity hasn’t always felt like a winning strategy. Meanwhile, my peers who picked a safer route are doing fine. All the decades it’s felt like i’ve been missing out (and I have), all because I hate boring (more like I literally can’t do it, my focus dies instantly).
But AI’s going to start eating the boring jobs. Anything predictable will be gone. Even some creative work that follows a formula will be automated.
This will not be a linear, gradual change – a steady extrapolation of the recent past into the near future. This technology will change everything and leave many people in the cold.
Not that would deny my peers their success, but there’s an opportunity for the rest of us.
“Figuring out what questions to ask will be more important than figuring out the answer” – Sam Altman
The Importance of Human Skills
The real game now is knowing what needs doing and why, not how. AI can definitely be creative, or help you create, but as Jaron Lanier puts it, ‘Only humans create the future.’
As AI takes over routine tasks, our human capacity for creativity and connection becomes a significant advantage. These uniquely human skills will become more valuable.
“Instead of thinking about how artificial intelligence can do our jobs, we should be thinking about how artificial intelligence can help us do our jobs better, help us do new jobs, and help us discover entirely new possibilities” – Ginni Rometty
So maybe pursuing what fulfills, isn’t just personally rewarding and a chance to redefine work around what truly matters; it’s developing the skills needed for the future. Focusing on passion becomes a strategic advantage, rather than the selfish waste of time our inner critics have been telling us it is.
How do you thrive? Double down on being human. Be curious. Be creative. Connect. Use AI as your tool, not your replacement.
Finding Meaning and Passion
So, forget chasing meaningless tasks. Focus on what you truly care about. Build real skill there. Cal Newport was right: passion comes after mastery, not before. Connect deeply with people who get it – think Kevin Kelly’s ‘1000 True Fans,’ not shallow clicks.
Let the machines handle the mundane. Your job? Go build something meaningful, something only a human can. Lanier’s advice is gold: ‘If you make your job something AI can’t do, you’ll never run out of work.’ The future belongs to passion.