Why AI Is The Future Of Work

Throughout the history of humankind, there have been several technological disruptions that have changed the course of human evolution. From the invention of the wheel, the development of agriculture, the invention of the printing press, to the internet, these innovations have completely transformed the way we live, work, and communicate. And today, we're seeing a new disruption take place. Some like to downplay it, some are just scared of it, but one thing is certain: it'll change the way we do everything. And that is the AI Revolution.

Welcome to A Lux. Now, to better understand why we believe there is a disruption coming, we need to take a look at what all the previous technological disruptions had in common. Because once you see the patterns, things become a lot more clear.

It all started with the development of agriculture, where people understood how to farm the land to produce more food easier. This removed the need for hunters to risk their lives every day and provided a stable source of resources for the masses. It's how civilization started. It continued with the invention of the wheel, which allowed more goods and people to be transported easier. The printing press, invented in the 15th century, allowed more people to get access to knowledge easier. The Industrial Revolution allowed us to make more things easier, and it goes on and on. For every new technology, do you see the pattern here? Every time we manage to do way more with way less, a disruption happens.

Now, out of all of these, let's take a closer look at one in particular, one that's closely related to what we're seeing today—and that is the printing press. Now, before the invention of the printing press, life was vastly different in terms of access to knowledge and information. Books were considered a luxury item and were very expensive to produce, often being hand-copied by scribes, monks, and other literate individuals, usually in the church. As a result, books were limited in availability and only accessible to the wealthy and elite.

For the common people, oral storytelling and memorization were the primary means of transmitting information and preserving cultural traditions. That's the reason why bards were so popular back in the day. They were highly regarded for their ability to remember and recite epic tales, myths, and legends. The lack of printed books also meant the dissemination of knowledge was restricted to those who had access to it, mainly the wealthy and the elite. This led to an information gap between the ruling class and the common people, who were left without access to essential information. Without printed materials, education was limited to a select few, and those who had access to books had a significant advantage over those who did not, leading to a divide in society. The common people were often illiterate, making them more vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation.

But everything changed in the mid-15th century when the printing press was invented. It revolutionized the way books are produced, making them more accessible and affordable to the masses. Books could now be produced more quickly, more cheaply, and with greater accuracy. All of a sudden, information was not reserved for the elite anymore. Anyone could now have access to the same quality of information with little to no barriers of entry.

The printing press did one huge thing: the democratization of knowledge. It allowed anyone equal access to knowledge, regardless of their background, family prestige, or access to a high-level school. The pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the world was now free, which leads us to today's topic.

You see, what we have today is a democratization of ability. Now, before we go into what we mean by this, let's take a short look at how AI works. Whether we're talking about ChatGPT or other models, essentially these AIs are chatbots that understand and respond to natural language. If a programmer needs to write code in a programming language to talk and give tasks to a computer, with AI, you can just tell it to do something, and it does.

We're sure many of you have played with ChatGPT and other AI models by now, and you've seen them in action.

Okay, now back to the point. As the printing press allowed everyone to access knowledge equally, AI is allowing everyone to express their creativity and imagination without needing technical know-how. Think about it like this: almost every single job involves a certain amount of Google searching to the point where being good at searching on Google became an actual skill.

Have you ever seen your dad try to search something on Google? Yeah, you know what we're talking about. We rely on the collective knowledge of others to figure out our own stuff. That's why forums and online resources exist. It's only a matter of how well you manage to find what you're looking for. But AI makes everyone who's really bad at Google search actually pretty good at Google search.

We actually believe that in the near future, the phrase "Google it" will be like some kind of ancient phrase. And we're not the only ones who believe this; Google thinks it too because a world without Google search means bankruptcy for Google. You see, 81% of Google's revenue comes from ads. They know AI is the death of Google search, and they're spending big money to avoid it. They know they can't beat AI, so they join the game with their own version, which so far failed miserably because they rushed it, because they're panicking.

So for once, even your dad can now search for accurate knowledge using AI, which is a really big deal. The ability to search for relevant information is not that important anymore, which is great news in the grand scheme of things. In a way, it's similar to what the printing press did to the availability of knowledge. Now you don't have to be Internet savvy to find what you're looking for.

And secondly, we mentioned not needing technological know-how. You see, the world around you runs on code and pixels. They are the bread and butter of how we interact with each other every single day. The problem is, only a few people learned how to create code or pixels. Some didn't have the opportunity, and others didn't have the means. But regardless, despite popular belief, very few people have the know-how to talk to a computer. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were approximately 1.5 million computer programmers employed in the United States as of 2020, and this represents less than one percent of the total U.S. population.

Now, do you really think those one percent represent the most creative and ingenious minds that can handle programming? No, of course not. There are plenty of people who are excellent at problem-solving who just didn't happen to learn how to do so using technology.

And this is where the democratization of ability really comes into play. There are so many people out there who could give their idea a shot. Maybe they want to build a cool website. Maybe they've got a great idea for an app or a great idea for a game. But those things, if done right, still have big barriers of entry in terms of know-how and cost.

Now imagine a world where you can ask an AI to bring your idea to life in a website. As a matter of fact, you don't even have to imagine it. You can look it up on YouTube; people have started creating amazing websites using AI from scratch with zero coding knowledge. It won't be long until you see the same people creating apps and games with a fraction of the resources that you used to need.

That's the true democratization of ability, and that's where AI will change the future of work. Because remember, we're still at version one, and it's already been nerfed quite a bit because it proved to be too much to handle.

Imagine the possibilities when this thing gets more polished. This isn't about getting programmers or other people out of a job; it's about giving the same possibilities and the same resources to everyone, and let the truly creative and innovative people win. Chatbots such as ChatGPT are already having a significant impact on the future of work, from customer service to data analysis and creative writing, and most likely in music production soon enough.

Some worry the increasing use of AI and automation will lead to job loss and economic inequality as certain roles are replaced by machines, and you know they're valid concerns. But it's important to understand the age of AI is here, and it's not going anywhere. The only thing left to do is to make sure everyone has equal access to it and everyone can benefit from it.

At the end of the day, we're seeing the same pattern as with other disruptive technologies: doing way more with way less. It allows everyone access to knowledge and ability, and it levels off the playing field. Now it's a matter of what you decide to do with it.

We hope you learned something valuable here today. Alag, sir, have you ever used AI, and what did you use it for? Let us know in the comments, and let's start a conversation. We're eager to hear what you think about this.

And as a thank you for sticking with us until the end, we've got a bonus for you. Some of you have asked if we've ever used AI before, and the answer is yes. We've always been big fans of technology and tools to analyze data and come up with educated conclusions. AI helps us to come to those conclusions faster.

But let me just tell you one thing: contrary to popular belief, I'm 100% human. We'll see you back here tomorrow, Alexa. Take care.