The irony of the coming era is complete: the more digital and AI we become, the more expensive it will be to pay those who can remain brutally analog. Artificial intelligence will make mediocrity free, and genuine human contact will become the most expensive luxury on the market. The algorithm will not replace you because it is smarter than you, but because you have become boring. Let me explain!
Back in 2011, when we were all excited about our phones knowing where we were (today it horrifies us), I had a theory. A simple, almost banal theory, but today, when everyone is panicking about artificial intelligence (AI), seems to be the only truth. I called it the “Silicon Valley vs. Farmer’s Wisdom” paradox.
Americans would say Jetsons vs. Flintstones, but since we're not in a cartoon, let's translate this into our reality: the more technologically sterile, digital, and "smart" our society becomes, the more the winners will be those who know how to to preserve propertiesthat we had when we were still talking live at the bar.
Technology will turn everything into a “commodity” (read: worthless junk)
Today everyone is talking about the AI revolution. About how it will ChatGPT replaced programmers, writers, bureaucrats. And they are right. But what most people don't realize is that technology is actually turning everything into a commodity. When any average person can program an app in three minutes with the help of AI, code is no longer an asset. Code becomes what Chinese plastic is today - cheap and accessible to everyone.
So what remains? What remains is what the algorithm cannot program. What remains is “old school.” What remains is that “analog” ability to look someone in the eye, shake their hand, and actually listen to them, without looking at the clock or phone in betweenIn a world where we edit genes like Word documents and erase diseases with copy-paste method, the biggest market niche will become – being human.
If you are in a business today that requires you to actually interact with people, you are sitting on a gold mine. The software will do the rest. Those who can be the “most human” in a world of robots will win. That is the only real revolution. Everything else is just a faster processor to process our collective stupidity.
You are the algorithm – and that hurts more than the truth
And speaking of stupidity. One of my favorite pastimes lately is listening to people whine about algorithms. “Facebook is toxic,” they say. “TikTok is making young people stupid.”
Let me pour you some pure wine: The algorithm is not some evil uncle from Brussels or Silicon Valley who wants to destroy you. The algorithm is your mirror. The algorithm is you.
If you search the internet for arguments, conspiracy theories, and idiots, the algorithm will serve you exactly that. The algorithm just exponentially enhances who you really are. And to be honest, judging by the state of our country, a good portion of our compatriots are pretty pathological.
We are the ones who, with our passivity and “cliques”, have elected a politics that resembles a reality show. We have a government that communicates so bizarrely that it should be broadcast in some tragicomedy. But hey, that’s our algorithm. We fed it. Don’t blame the mirror if the picture is ugly.
Why “spoiling” will become an elite service
Take the example of our famous car mechanic or doctor. We have top experts who can't breathe in the official system because they are suffocated by bureaucracy, so they "slack off" in the afternoon. Why do people rush to their private garages and surgeries? Not just to skip the queue, which is longer than the one for the iPhone.
But because they get a man there. They get the attitude. In the future, the “official service” – be it healthcare or an administrative unit – will become a completely automated, cold system where you will be treated by an AI chatbot. This will be the “Cuban public healthcare” I am talking about. The elite service, for which people will pay a fortune, will be the one where a person of flesh and blood will deal with you. Where someone will ask you “how are you” and actually care.
The European mindset has always valued quality over quantity. And that's where our opportunity lies. The Americans will make the best AI, the Chinese will make it the cheapest, and we can offer what they both forget - the soul.
Conclusion: IQ editing before gene editing
Technology is a multiplier. If you're smart and use AI, you become a genius. If you're an idiot and use AI, you just become dangerously fast idiot. And given what I see around me – from an economy that is being stifled by taxes to a politician who doesn't understand the basics of economics – I fear that technology alone won't help us.
Maybe before we start with CRISPR gene editing technology, first vote to “zero” the IQ of our decision-makers to some decent number. Until then, remember: Don’t hide behind technology. Be an “analog disruption” in a digital world. Be a human with a farmer’s mind in a world of artificial intelligence. This is your only competitive advantage that no algorithm can take away from you.
The world is moving forward, with or without us. And if we don't change the mindset in our heads, all the artificial intelligence in this world won't help us climb out of this turbid reality of ours.
