To Fight Progress Is Human Nature

I was just struck by a memory as I saw people reacting to Sora:

Let's go back in time a bit, probably about 17-18 years.

I'm back in college, and one of my friends has an assignment for her class. She's got to make a website.

"Aha!", I think. "I'm a CS student. I'll be able to build a simple website no problem!"

Now, I don't know about you. But as a CS student, I'm addicted to doing things the hardest way possible. Any shortcut means a lack of skill. I spent time building up the skills I've got, so I've got to use them right?

So, instead of using a template or something like a CMS platform, I decided I had to do everything by hand.

It was awful.

It looked terrible. I had my friend add her information to it.

She got a C.

She definitely would have done way better without the "expert" help, because she wouldn't have worried about all the shit that didn't matter.

Her professor didn't give a shit about what made me feel like a "real" programmer. They cared about results, and the results I helped to deliver weren't close to good.

Might be the only C she received in her college career actually. But I did end up marrying her and we had two kids, so luckily, that wasn't based on my web design skills or lack thereof.

So what the fuck does this have to do with Soma?

Great question!

It simply highlights one key fact of human existance we need to face: we overindex on the amount of time and effort something takes and underindex on the actual results we get.

Especially when we've spent a ton of time and energy learning something. Why would I pick up a new tool that does everything I can do in a fraction of the time? It's just going to replace me!

Or it's soulless.

I put soul into my work. Let's see the new tool do that!

In the end, it's the sunk cost fallacy wearing a different hat. We've put time into building skills and understanding and these new tools just....do the thing. Suddenly, everyone will be able to do it! And I'm going to be worthless!

#ThanksObama

But here's the secret that most people miss:

The amount of time and energy you put into understanding not only how to do something, but when to do it and why to do it are the most important things.

That isn't handled by a tool that does a specific task.

That's the human element. There's a place for AI there too, but it has to be in an economy that is human-centric.

The economy doesn't value the right things, so we don't value the right things. We only capture the value for the specific work done, not the understanding of why things need to be done.

You control the why. The why is ultimately what matters the most, and that's what AIs can't replicate.

The why is up to you.

My wife's professor's why was all about sharing information in an easy to read fashion for the reader to learn about a given topic. Nothing about how hardcore a programmer was in building it. So that wasn't valued in the result.

Understand what's valued. Do the work that is the most meaningful. And eventually, the money will figure itself out.

Turns out, that's my why. I see the problem, so I'm trying to fix it while showing everyone else what I see. So AI will be the tool I use to shift the economy to a human-centric model.

And then we can stop worring about things "taking our jobs" and focus more on "embracing the human experience in all the messiness of life".

Then I can give a template to people to make it easier, because it turns out, taking the easy way out to focus on what truly matters is a virtue, not a vice.

Take the shortcut. Enjoy the shortcut.

Use the shortcut to help you build the life you want to live.