Agreed. Thank you for this. There are days I feel on top of things and then I read linkedin and I am like damn, I need to try this new tool!
But what you say on clarity is really interesting, I am trying to brace this period as a back to school case. As you say the playing field is wide open so its just like being back at school and being open to learning anything but with the clarity of experience. For me this at least helps reducing what I chase after. Tons of people can now do data science, but building the data stack behind that is where that clarity counts
I constantly feel behind with AI and that everyone else has it figured out. What I need to remind myself is LinkedIn is no different than any other social media platform. LinkedIn "thought leaders" can curate their content to make it seem like they’ve got everything figured out. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this.
This reminds me of earlier shifts that felt just as existential in the moment. At SXSW this year, Patreon founder, Jack Conte, talked about how synthesizers didn’t just add a tool they wiped out entire classes of musicians who had spent their lives mastering orchestral craft. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue9-zkAz59A). And Marc Andreessen made a similar point on Lenny’s podcast: “calculator” used to be a job, until machines took it over completely. So both perspectives can be true, these changes are devastating at the human level, and over time they can increase the value of human labor in new forms. The hard part is we’re living in the transition, not the outcome. What feels different now is how quickly knowledge work itself is being flattened. People are clinging to “taste” as the last human moat, but that still keeps you downstream of the machine. As Will Manidis writes in his essay "Against Taste" (https://minutes.substack.com/p/against-taste) if your value is selecting or refining what AI produces, you’re still replaceable. The more durable position is upstream: deciding what should exist and bringing it into being. That shift, from being good at doing something to deciding what’s worth doing at all, is what makes this moment feel so destabilizing.
Elena, you nail the trap: productivity gains get absorbed immediately; i.e. 10x faster just means 10x more expected output.
But what if that’s the wrong default? If the same work takes a fraction of the time, maybe the real question is: what needs doing that we’ve never had bandwidth for?
We have a planet to regenerate, communities to care for, systemic problems that need patient human attention. None of that pays well, not because it’s low value, but because we’ve built labour entirely around capital efficiency.
A 10x gain could be the biggest redistribution opportunity of our generation. Not just of wealth, but of human attention, toward stewardship instead of extraction.
That requires rethinking what “productive” means at a societal level. Harder conversation than tool stacks, but arguably the one that matters most. Your thought?
This article really hits the point, especially the economics part. Though the work has shifted but the compensation metrics and flow still stay the same in the industrial age. So yes, individuals now have the highest production power in the human history but only a few can make a living out of their taste + AI. Positively thinking this shift is so fundamental and underlying infrastructure will be updated eventually but we as Millennial will be the transition phrase. Well, honestly that's a relief to certain degree. We still know what's like to live a real life in the physical world, time to take that feeling back and enjoy :)
Totally agree! I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and writing about organizations, the importance of judgment, and how builders are back. Personally, I love this shift—it feels like my brain has been released from prison.
The real question now is: should we build this? That’s what we need to navigate. People with domain expertise, like me—who’ve always been the “spider in the web”—suddenly don’t need the web anymore.
Thank you for this! There was a time not too long ago when you witnessed overstimulation in our personal lives, mostly due to social media and other factors but the affect wasn’t as pronounced in our professional lives as it is now because of AI. Hard relate on that phrase about being the sandwich generation. All of what you’ve talked about is overwhelming yet rings so true.
Regarding: "deciding what should exist and bringing it into being", who are the tastemakers in the post-AI world? Are these entrepreneurs, people who work at companies, or content people who are really good at their jobs?
Sometimes I feel marketing has gotten ahead of AI. If someone is getting 10x gains, then why are not they seeing 10x profits/revenue?
Agreed. Thank you for this. There are days I feel on top of things and then I read linkedin and I am like damn, I need to try this new tool!
But what you say on clarity is really interesting, I am trying to brace this period as a back to school case. As you say the playing field is wide open so its just like being back at school and being open to learning anything but with the clarity of experience. For me this at least helps reducing what I chase after. Tons of people can now do data science, but building the data stack behind that is where that clarity counts
I constantly feel behind with AI and that everyone else has it figured out. What I need to remind myself is LinkedIn is no different than any other social media platform. LinkedIn "thought leaders" can curate their content to make it seem like they’ve got everything figured out. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this.
you are most def not alone.
This reminds me of earlier shifts that felt just as existential in the moment. At SXSW this year, Patreon founder, Jack Conte, talked about how synthesizers didn’t just add a tool they wiped out entire classes of musicians who had spent their lives mastering orchestral craft. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue9-zkAz59A). And Marc Andreessen made a similar point on Lenny’s podcast: “calculator” used to be a job, until machines took it over completely. So both perspectives can be true, these changes are devastating at the human level, and over time they can increase the value of human labor in new forms. The hard part is we’re living in the transition, not the outcome. What feels different now is how quickly knowledge work itself is being flattened. People are clinging to “taste” as the last human moat, but that still keeps you downstream of the machine. As Will Manidis writes in his essay "Against Taste" (https://minutes.substack.com/p/against-taste) if your value is selecting or refining what AI produces, you’re still replaceable. The more durable position is upstream: deciding what should exist and bringing it into being. That shift, from being good at doing something to deciding what’s worth doing at all, is what makes this moment feel so destabilizing.
couldn't agree more. thank you for such thoughtful comment.
From another millennial: thank you for this !
Elena, you nail the trap: productivity gains get absorbed immediately; i.e. 10x faster just means 10x more expected output.
But what if that’s the wrong default? If the same work takes a fraction of the time, maybe the real question is: what needs doing that we’ve never had bandwidth for?
We have a planet to regenerate, communities to care for, systemic problems that need patient human attention. None of that pays well, not because it’s low value, but because we’ve built labour entirely around capital efficiency.
A 10x gain could be the biggest redistribution opportunity of our generation. Not just of wealth, but of human attention, toward stewardship instead of extraction.
That requires rethinking what “productive” means at a societal level. Harder conversation than tool stacks, but arguably the one that matters most. Your thought?
This article really hits the point, especially the economics part. Though the work has shifted but the compensation metrics and flow still stay the same in the industrial age. So yes, individuals now have the highest production power in the human history but only a few can make a living out of their taste + AI. Positively thinking this shift is so fundamental and underlying infrastructure will be updated eventually but we as Millennial will be the transition phrase. Well, honestly that's a relief to certain degree. We still know what's like to live a real life in the physical world, time to take that feeling back and enjoy :)
Totally agree! I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and writing about organizations, the importance of judgment, and how builders are back. Personally, I love this shift—it feels like my brain has been released from prison.
The real question now is: should we build this? That’s what we need to navigate. People with domain expertise, like me—who’ve always been the “spider in the web”—suddenly don’t need the web anymore.
Thank you Elena!
And in the outside world you have so many people who are absolutely indifferent to everything happening around.
Thank you for this! There was a time not too long ago when you witnessed overstimulation in our personal lives, mostly due to social media and other factors but the affect wasn’t as pronounced in our professional lives as it is now because of AI. Hard relate on that phrase about being the sandwich generation. All of what you’ve talked about is overwhelming yet rings so true.
Regarding: "deciding what should exist and bringing it into being", who are the tastemakers in the post-AI world? Are these entrepreneurs, people who work at companies, or content people who are really good at their jobs?
Sometimes I feel marketing has gotten ahead of AI. If someone is getting 10x gains, then why are not they seeing 10x profits/revenue?