We live in absolutely extraordinary times. The pace of technological advancement has long ago far outpaced our ability to make sense of its implications. Facts, such as ‘the iPhone has 100,000 times the processing power of the Apollo 11’ or ‘AI systems already process more calculations per second than all human brains combined’, sometimes briefly enter our conscious periphery. But how we actually internalize these facts and apply them to the way we think about ourselves is a different story.
Much of the public discourse related to AI disruption is doom and gloom. And while I do have concerns around what will happen throughout this period of transformation, I also believe that we won’t prevail by worrying but by doing. The World Economic Forum predicts that 65% of children currently in primary school will have jobs that don’t yet exist. If handled correctly, this moment in history could be our window of opportunity to redefine the essence of being human. It could be a chance for us to reimagine what our role in this world can look like.
This is of course a wildly complex topic that I will not aim to thoroughly cover here, but I do believe that a great place to start is by examining how we have historically understood our place in the universe. Humans, particularly in the West, have generally seen themselves as individual, separate egos — fighting to control the physical world. We’ve developed a nearly compulsive need to work and maintain control, not just over our professions, but every aspects of our lives. Our obsession with productivity leaves us running on a hamster wheel: moving from one target to the other, unable to ever let go or relax. This way of life is not only detrimental to our mental health, but also our ability to be truly creative. And even if we were willing to let go of our sense of wellbeing for the sake of progress, this isn’t the way to do that. As AI becomes more powerful and machines take over so much of what falls under the ‘let’s do more but better and faster’ category, where will that leave us? Certainly not winning in competition with the machines. No one knows what exactly the future will bring, but we do know that uncertainty and change will continue to grow as the key themes.
So how do we navigate uncertainty and this continuous change? My beliefs here are rooted in the idea that the key to success, both individually and collectively, lies in our ability to deepen our sense of connection to the world around us. If we let go of the idea that we must act as the ultimate conquerors of nature, and instead start seeing ourselves as integral and connected beings within the vast cosmos, we’ll be better equipped to handle what’s to come. There is work to be done across all hierarchies and areas of society. As individuals, we must take on the spiritual work of understanding that we are not separate, isolated entities, but rather manifestations of the entire universe: we are distinct in form, but not separate from the whole. Similarly, as companies, we must find what makes us unique, and not be afraid to wholly lean into that (competition is for losers). And as countries and governments, we must find ways to quickly adapt to an entirely new reality, while finding ways to support our citizens through this incredible period of transformation.
The good news within all of this is that we all have something unique to bring to the table. As I said, we can treat this moment as an opportunity to rethink and redefine our essence. Instead of being stressed about whether and how we’ll survive the turmoil, we can choose to look at this challenge through a cosmically optimistic lens. Who are we? What makes us tick? And how do we turn our distinctive capabilities into something interesting to us and valuable for others?
I look forward to working through these challenges with individuals and companies alike.
Ida Josefiina
December 17th, 2024
San Francisco, California