The Three-Course Meal of AI 

What if losing our jobs to AI isn’t the end of the world, but the beginning of truly living? 

I suggest you read this when you’re hungry. I’m about to serve you a spicy starter, a heavy main course, and finally a sweet dessert. My thesis is simple: AI will take over the majority of our jobs, and that’s a good thing. 

 

Starter: The Seeds of Automation 

The story of AI begins not in the 21st century, but at the very moment humanity first started producing things with machines—whether books, textiles, cars, or minerals. Each leap in mechanization planted seeds of automation. 

From that point onward, we couldn’t help but imagine replacing people in every area of work—though often for reasons I don’t entirely agree with. 

For example, I would want to replace humans in unsafe jobs, not simply because they make mistakes or slow down production. In mining, for instance, machines can take on tasks deep underground where toxic gases and cave-ins pose constant risks—ensuring safety rather than merely chasing efficiency. 

 

Main Course: From AlphaGo to LLMs 

The path led from mechanization to automation, and then to something far more profound. 

In 2016, the world awoke to the news that Google’s AlphaGo had defeated Lee Sedol, one of the greatest Go players in history. That event signaled a turning point, though many missed its implications.

Now, less than a decade later, in 2025, we are living with large language models (LLMs)—AI systems that are everywhere today. Until recently, only those who spoke the language of machines could instruct them. That barrier has fallen. Anyone can now talk to machines in plain language and get meaningful results. We have broken the communication barrier. 

This is a staggering step forward, and what amazes me most is how quickly we’ve grown used to it. What once felt miraculous is now mundane. People are already moving past the awe, straight into mockery, memes, and complaints. Experts rightly remind us that we are still far from achieving general intelligence, and I agree. But I remain awestruck that I can speak to a machine as I am speaking to you now. 

 

The Bitter Truth: Work and Security 

Whether general intelligence arrives or not, even today’s AI can cause disruption. Traditionally, job loss is seen as damage. I will argue it isn’t. 

AI doesn’t replace humans in the dramatic way we imagine—an employee fired and a laptop suddenly doing the job on its own. Instead, it works more subtly: 

• Employers reduce hiring for entry-level roles. 

• Underperformers are shown the door. 

• The remaining workforce is armed with AI-powered tools. 

Productivity rises. Fewer new hires are needed. Deadlines are met faster. Deliveries continue without disruption. If you’ve noticed an increase in workloads with shorter timelines, you’ve already experienced this shift firsthand. 

With machines, we replaced blue-collar jobs. With AI, we are replacing white-collar jobs. 

And here’s the truth: many people dislike their jobs with a certain sincerity, yet cling to them out of fear. They wake early, rush children to school, skip breakfast, log in late, skim emails they resent, respond to Slack and Teams messages, slog through tasks, grab a quick bite, slog some more, and end the day exhausted. 

At some point, each of us has wondered: Is this all there is to life? Do we really have to wait until the weekend to feel alive? And when someone dares to voice that question aloud, we brush it off with clichés: Be realistic. Think of your kid’s future. 

But the reality is this: there is no such thing as security. 

Life is shaped by countless external forces beyond our control. We fool ourselves by clinging to visible logic while ignoring the invisible. We fear the unknown, preferring to die a little each day rather than admit it’s time to choose another path. 

Ironically, for most of human history we navigated without maps. Yet in just one decade of smartphones, we’ve grown so dependent on them that we cannot imagine moving forward without one. How did we become so attached to this fragile idea of security so quickly? 

 

Dessert: The Cure to Mediocrity 

Now comes the question everyone asks: Without jobs, how will we live? How will we eat? 

We will figure it out. First, we must confront our insecurity and reclaim time for what is meaningful—or at the very least, what is fun. 

Many people don’t even know what that is anymore. We’ve been conditioned not to ask such questions. But one generation’s silence is not enough to erase our nature. Very soon, we will return to our equilibrium: curiosity and play. 

I believe AI is nature’s cure for our laziness, the final nudge we need to move beyond mediocrity and security. Nature knows that we procrastinate until we have no choice left. With AI taking over the labor, we are left with nothing but choice. And in that void, curiosity will reemerge. 

For the first time in centuries, we may not just survive—we may truly live. 

We will write poems, invent stories, show empathy, experiment with new ways of living. We will remember that our true work is not survival, but exploration. 

So I suggest you take a nap after this three-course meal. When you wake, I hope you find yourself convinced. 

 

🍽️ Your Turn 

What do you think—are we ready to let go of “job security” and embrace curiosity?