In the industrial revolution we invented the steam engine and devalued labour by replacing muscle with machinery.
A minor few got very rich.
Chaos ensued.
But life went on and felt normal again.
Many became skilled technicians.
Then the dot com bubble happened,
and we devalued information by making it accessible to anyone, anywhere.
A minor few got very rich.
Chaos ensued.
But life went on and felt normal again.
Many became knowledge workers.
Now we have the ai explosion,
And we’ve devalued thinking by replacing it with fast easy prompts.
A minor few are getting very rich.
Chaos ensues.
But life goes on and soon will be the new normal.
So what will we become when ai is ubiquitous and our labour, nor our knowledge is required?
There will always be new ways to add value to society, and society will value new things.
We still have taste, we have discernment, we have judgement.
A typist was once considered a skilled job.
What was once a feature on a CV is now a standard requirement in order to be able to work.
The profession become obsolete, replaced by a skill.
Nowadays, You have to be able to type, and to use word processing software and spreadsheets to function in any basic office job.
Photography required bulky equipment and skilled technicians.
Now it’s a feature on your phone.
Printing was once a specialist business with lots of plant and equipment.
But the technology was miniaturized, the interface simplified, costs reduced;
until eventually being able to use a desk top printer became just a daily task for an office worker.
The same will be true of design, marketing and copywriting skills.
They will need longer be a profession or skill,
But simply a requirement to be able to work certain generalist jobs.
Canva is leading this charge and the writing is on the wall.
So what do I think about the impact of AI on the creative fields?
AI is just yet another tool which will become a standard entry requirement
In a long enough time frame, all skills eventually become basic entry requirements.
So before that happens, turn skills into leverage…
February 25, 2026If you are a freelancer, you are a knowledge worker.
Knowledge is the new gold.
Your knowledge = your work.
So gain more knowledge.
Read.
Read like a mofo
Then go read some more.
March 16, 2024Reading is the path to a better life
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