Becoming Reliant

At happy hour recently, a friend of a co-worker who works at an AI startup compared the current widespread use of AI to the early days of Uber. R noted that AI tools (like the one her company makes) are heavily subsidized by venture capital and have quickly become indispensable for many users. She pointed out correctly that these subsidies will eventually disappear, leading to higher costs or increased influence from advertisers. 

Uber is essentially unaffordable in most cities I travel to for work and often the local taxi service is more cost-effective. So R is perfectly right about what the future golds. There were a couple of engineers there with AI startup and side hustle ideas and R told them, if they plan to build with AI, they should act now while it remains affordable. That got the group chatting about the  importance of maintaining traditional skills, as those who can produce quality work without relying on expensive AI services will be highly valued if prices rise. 

This is particularly true I think for early-career professionals who need to wean off their dependence on AI to do a job they haven't even had a chance to fully learn. If you are closer to retirement age, the consequences in professional life might be less dire. You might have runaway to enjoy the productivity boost from the tools while the going is good as R says and happily walk into the sunset to enjoyed retired life. 

Our group covered a large age range - fresh out of college to getting ready to retire this year. R gave everyone food for thought that evening. She herself is all-in with AI tools at work because its not an option. But for an industry veteran as she is, its likely a pretty low-risk. She had a great career before AI and will likely continue to have after the dust settles and things go the way of Uber.