This week has been quite something for me on the AI front. I was not particularly bullish on AI, but have been using it because I like to have an informed view and it seemed important for my job. I’ve been using it for quite a while now, and have had lots of anxiety about it taking my job.

But this past week and half has been an accelerant. The models have improved immensely and importantly are being used to speed up development of newer versions. I reached about 5-10x my average weekly output at work. And I’m really bone tired. Because what is left is all the really hard stuff. Reviewing code. Really understanding it deeply and looking for things the AI might have missed. I’ve become convinced it is going to take over most of our work. This isn’t something I advocate for or want to protest against. I think it’s inevitable at this point. The question is really only how as a society we change because of it.

So at a dinner party this weekend the topic turned to AI, and invariably people bring up that kids should learn a trade as those won’t be impacted by AI.

And this honestly gets back to why I can’t even imagine the future. I think we are in the middle of a transition akin to the industrial revolution. But our current economy is built upon consumers. So if 90% of white collar workers lose their jobs to AI as some tech companies are predicting it would absolutely destroy the economy.

And I think trades would suffer as well. If there are no offices and no middle class people remodeling their houses then how many electricians do we need? If people don’t have money will they pay for haircuts? They can after all do that themselves if they have a pair of scissors or clippers. Will they go out to eat? Will they need to repair their cars? To go where? Sure we’ll need plumbers, but how many? And how competitive will that field be once all of the office plumbing jobs no longer exist?

There is no safe career path if AI can do nearly everything. And that’s without thinking about what AI’s working 24/7 can do to advance robotics.

Ultimately we’re all in this together. We have to think about what kind of society we want to have.

I’m trying to be optimistic. I think we can have a Universal Basic Income and a right to housing, food, and education. And then what comes next for us as humans? That’s something we haven’t done enough dreaming about in my opinion. At the dinner party I was asked somewhat rhetorically “how may artists does humanity need?” I think that’s a really good question. What if art was something we all did? Not to create products. Not to try to sell to each other. Creating just for our own enjoyment. Something we did to pass the time and enjoy each other as all our needs are now met?

One thing that has caused a lot of discussion on social media is the notion that using AI to create visual or written media isn’t creating art. And I definitely lean more towards the notion that it isn’t. But I also think we have made all of our art too much of a product. We talk about how art is great for others to consume. Roger Ebert famously called film a “machine that generates empathy”. But one thing we don’t talk about is what art does for the artists. Limiting those who can create art has felt necessary since the number of people to consume the art is limited. Theater for years has had a creation cost that far exceeds any possible revenue. But people keep making it. What if art was also something our culture thought had a benefit for the artist? I think it’s important that art nurtures that artist’s soul as well, and I believe that’s something everyone on earth could benefit from.

So maybe I’m hoping that if AI does move us into a post-work world that we will all have copeous time to sit around creating and learning from each other.

So what should your kid study? I think something they enjoy that will teach them to think.

I’m obviously an artist so my view is very specific. What would you do if you no longer had to work?