Wait, What Are People For?

Welcome to the Dave vs. AI. I know. It’s a new name.

***We’re trying a new approach - focusing on AI first and then digging into startups and life. Let me know what you think by replying to this email.***

When AI can do everything… what do we do?

I keep coming back to the same question.

What are people for?

Not in a “we’re doomed” way.

In a what does life look like on the other side of artificial general intelligence kind of way.

Because if we really are heading toward a world where AGI exists where an AI is better than us at everything then… what exactly are humans supposed to be doing?

The Soup-Making Future

There’s a scene in the Amazon Prime show Upload where a guy casually mentions:

“This is my UBI-mandated hobby.”

Universal Basic Income.

Mandated Hobby.

He’s financially supported by the government because AI solved everything, but in exchange, he has to do something to stay “active.”

So he makes soup.

It’s played for laughs.

But honestly? It feels like a pretty real possibility.

The “Last Invention” Theory

People in AI circles often say this:

“Artificial Intelligence will be the last invention humanity ever needs.”

Not because it ends the world…

But because it will be capable of solving problems we either couldn’t solve or would’ve taken centuries to solve.

• Cure cancer.

• Crack fusion power.

• Solve climate models.

• Reshape education.

• Build machines that build better machines.

And at that point, we’re no longer the smartest thing on the planet.

So again, the question remains… what are people for?

Utopia or Identity Crisis?

Let’s play it out:

• If AI can do all work, does money still matter?

• If AI generates all knowledge, what’s the point of school?

• If AI creates all art, where does creativity go?

Maybe we enter a utopia where everything is handled, no one has to work, and we can all learn to paint, write poetry, and, yes… make soup.

Or maybe we spiral into an identity crisis.

Because humans aren’t wired to be idle… we’re wired to struggle, create, improve, matter.

That’s the part that stresses me out.

Not the singularity itself.

But the fact that, in a weird twist of fate, we may get everything we ever wanted… and not know what to do with it.

So What Now?

I don’t have the answers. (Honestly, who does?)

But I think this is the question that’s quietly sitting beneath everything happening in tech right now.

AI, automation, robotics, AI-generated content… is all fine and dandy.

But it’s about what happens after.

When the job is gone.
When the problem is solved.
When the machine is better.

What are people for then?

And more importantly… how do we make sure we like the answer?

Let me know by reaching out.

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