I don’t worry about AI ending humanity. This book is why. The supply chains that keep us alive are vast, ever changing and interconnected. To make a pencil, you need more than just wood, graphite and paint. You need the logging truck that hauled the wood and all the parts that make the truck. You need the chicken farmer who collected the eggs that fed the logger. You need the teacher who taught the logger to read. The connections are endless and here is the key piece that AI can never replace: WANT. Someone has to want the pencil. Someone has to want breakfast. Someone has to want an education for their kids. AI will never WANT anything. It can solve problems and replace major links in the chain but it will be serving our needs as it has almost none of its own. As it drives down costs and eliminates jobs, some people will fall into despair. Those people are losers. Don’t be a loser. Find a way to add value to the world and find meaning in what you do. Teachers your kids to find meaning in life apart from traditional work. Think about what can be done now that building that excel pivot table no longer requires a week of training.
