Jon Kallus’ Post

ChatGPT and other AI systems are sparking a revolution, but it’s not the one you think. We’re at the start of something I’m calling the “reverse Industrial Revolution” —this one is gonna swing value away from knowledge and back to labor. Information Age labor. Zoom out: From the late 1700s through to the mid 1800s, the Industrial Revolution transferred an incredible value away from physical labor and towards knowledge. The machines rolled in, and all of a sudden, our muscles/dexterity weren't as valuable as they were before. As mechanized factories took over manual tasks, knowledge became a widespread economic good, fueling a centuries-long boom in what would be called white collar work. PLOT TWIST! Generative AI (ChatGPT) makes knowledge abundant/super cheap. As I’ve previously written, ChatGPT os the foreshock before an historic, society-changing, economic earthquake. The mainshock is going to move most media, most human knowledge, and many, many, many services —including complex, problem solving ones— from an era of scarcity to an era of complete abundance. Get ready for “post scarcity knowledge economy.” A lot of goods (art, music, literature, and movies) and a lot of services (copywriting, legal analysis, tax preparation, and medical diagnoses) that provide a lot of livelihoods are all about to be produced in great abundance, with minimal human labour. A world where all of those (previously) economic goods are available cheaply or freely, is uncharted territory. Like it or not, we’re entering it. Generative AI is going to invert the industrial revolution, and transfer value away from knowledge and back to labor (not physical labor; that's going to stay mechanized, obviously, but rather Information Age labor: think work that relies on uniquely human attributes like empathy, judgment, and critical thinking.) Some examples: CONTENT CURATION: With the vast amount of content generated by AI, human labor in the form of curating, interpreting, and synthesizing all that information will become ever more crucial. Look for more and more “curation“ roles to pop up across the media sector in the months and years to come. HUMAN CONNECTION: Whether we’re working under a line manager, or trying to decide whether to join a community, we humans value EQ in other humans. Look for human-centric roles (community manager; line manager) that are absolutely reliant on uniquely human abilities —like empathy and understanding— to thrive. OK, WHAT’S THE POINT HERE? Despite the lawsuits and the skeptics, generative AI is a revolutionary shift that is here to stay. BUT. Far from making humans obsolete, it will place greater emphasis on our unique human skills and attributes. Get ready for “information age labor” to take center stage in this reverse revolution. — Get more of this in your inbox. Join thousands of us getting a jump on 2024 with fresh insights on marketing and AI and deep dives like this one. Subscribe at pro.readfv.com 🏆