My grandfather’s tips for surviving the rise of artificial intelligence.
I did not have a good father, but I did have a good grandfather.
He was a man of honor, able to respect his turn to speak and listen attentively. But a man who also knew how to communicate clearly and to give a blow on the table when it was necessary.
Once, a marquis for whom he worked his land wanted to buy his son because he could not have offspring. My grandfather, poorer than a mouse then, told the Marquis, “There is no money on this earth that will pay the price of a single hair of my children.”
I will only tell you that my grandfather died richer than the Marquis.
He learned to invest in things that only some people initially invested in: Terra, Amazon, and Tesla. Until dementia caused his children to take him out of the stock market game at age 90.
He always said, “Don’t be afraid to invest your money in the future because if there is no future, your money won’t do you any good.”
My grandfather could predict significant short- and medium-term changes; that’s why he did so well in the stock market. And that is why shortly before he died — as if he were Nostradamus — he made a disturbing and increasingly accurate prediction to me.
My grandfather, before he died, said to me…
“When I was young, it was all to be done, and today, there is more and more technology ready to do everything.”
And he went on to say, “And machines and computers will do everything a thousand times better than you. That’s why you have to be very kind to yourself. Because advertising wants to convince you that you are the problem, you will buy their solutions. And even if you don’t feel guilty, that same advertising will become the norm, and your friends and family will tell you you are to blame for your failures. And you will become an outsider”.
My grandfather died before the GPT Chat and all that crap that most of us workers face today.”
That’s why he insisted that I had to be nice to myself.
“You’re not going to have it easy, kid,” the old man would say.
Advice on how to survive the future
The same day he told me his disturbing prophecy, he gave me this advice for surviving the rise of machines and artificial intelligence.
“Every crisis brings with it a great opportunity. Look around you; the population pyramids of the First World are inverted. There are increasingly older adults like me and fewer young people like you. So, focus on serving older adults, and no technology will be able to replace you.
Everyone will think they are super-special in the future, and few will do their jobs well because they believe they are better than the jobs they do.
Their lack of humility will be your advantage.
Those people will be the first to be replaced by machines; go to the supermarket and see how human cashiers are replaced by self-service machines.
So if you can set up your own business, something essential, a coffee shop, a hairdresser, a bakery, a care service for older adults, a home cleaning company.
Smile, chat nicely, and give excellent service; you won’t be short of work.
Lonely people will pay double or triple for the extra humanity you put into your work as more and more people will be lonely.
Courtesy, politeness, friendship, and good manners improve the world and life. Remember.
Kindness will be the new oil, kid.”
Takeaway
I know that the rise of artificial intelligence and robots scares us, and we think they will take our jobs (and they probably will), so it is essential, as my grandfather said, 1) to be more human than ever and treat people with care and excellence and 2) not to be afraid of the future, because if there is no future, there will be no place to cry 🙂
A virtual hug
AG
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