Bill Gates is known for a lot of things, but one thing that he doesn’t do, is to sugarcoat things.
Never has, never will.
And when he talks about the future, you better listen. Because according to him, the world of work is heading straight for a cliff. AI is driving, and only three jobs are wearing seatbelts. Energy. Biology. Programming. Hooking (that’s four).
That’s all (though not the last one).
And everything else? Well, it is disposable. Like that plastic fork you got with your takeout. You use it once, then toss it in the trash.
Think I’m kidding? I am not.
And neither is Bill.
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Welcome to the AI takeover
AI isn’t coming. It’s here. It’s in your coffee shop. It’s in your supermarket. It’s in your phone, listening to you bitch about how it’s taking over. And guess what, it doesn’t give a darn f*k. AI isn’t here to make friends. It is here to make things work better, faster, cheaper.
Baristas…Replaced.
Cashiers..Goner.
Receptionists… You get the point.
Bill says this is a good thing.
Do you agree?
Well, I don’t.
I didn’t ask for it, did you?
He thinks that AI will “free us up” to focus on meaningful work.
Sure Bill.
Just remember to lock your bunker, when we all come knocking at your door to plunder it for a few scraps of food.
But what is meaningful when the machines are doing it all?
Cooking. Driving. Writing. Even thinking.
What’s left for us?
Staring at the wall, wondering why we let this happen?
Sounds really meaningful, doesn’t it.
Yeah, right.
Three jobs. That’s it.
Energy. Biology. Programming. These are the golden tickets. You got skills in any of those? Congratulations, you have just won a ticket out of the hunger games. If not, you’d better start learning. Gates says programming is key. It is the language of the future. You don’t speak it? Then the future doesn’t speak to you.
Think it’s unfair. Sure.
But when has fairness ever mattered?
Bill says that we need to teach kids how to code early.
Really early.
Like learning to tie their shoes early. Because if they don’t, they will grow up in a world they can’t control. A world where they’re not needed.
Think that’s dramatic. It’s not. It’s reality.
Meaner than the internet revolution
If you remember how the internet changed everything, you are an old f* like me. And now, AI is doing the same thing, but on speed x amphetamines. The internet gave us connection, e-commerce gave us convenience, and Social Media gave us memes.
And now AI is giving us efficiency, precision, and… unemployment.
Bill compares it to the internet revolution.
He’s not wrong.
But the stakes are higher now. Much, much higher.
With the internet, you could learn new skills. Adapt. Pivot. But AI doesn’t care if you adapt. It doesn’t need you to. It is faster, and smarter, and infinitely more patient than you ever will be. And if you want to keep up, better learn to code or revert to making drugs. Whatever. Just build the machines. Or at least fix them. Because if you can’t, you’re just another obstacle for AI to automate out of the way.
Education gets a new boss-man
Here’s the Prozac part, if you can call it that. Gates says that AI will transform education. It will make it smarter. More personalized. A robot tutor that knows your weaknesses better than you do. Sounds cooool, I must admit. Until you realize what it really means. AI is not teaching. It is deciding.
It decides what you learn.
How you learn.
And who gets to learn at all.
Do you trust it?
I don’t.
Because once machines decide what knowledge matters, it is only a matter of time before they decide who matters.
And it won’t be everyone.
Divide and conquer
Gates admits it. AI will divide us. Winners and losers.
And those who can leverage it will soar. But the rest will sink.
It is not about who works harder. It is about who adapts faster. Do you think you can? Think about it. Really think. Hard.
The gap is already widening. First we had people without internet. That gap has diminished somewhat. But there is a new gorge looming on the horizon. Those with access to the AI-tools will thrive. And those without will disappear. They will not survive this Darwinian selection.
I am not talking just about jobs. I am talking about survival. About relevance. Once AI decides that you’re irrelevant, you don’t come back from that. You just… vanish.
But just before we reach that point, there will be lots of social unrest. Upheavals. Turmoil. A monumental divide between the poorest of poor and the richer than rich.
And some nouvelle Louis XVI will ultimately pay the price for this, n’est-ce pas?
The human stories behind the great collapse
Gates talks about people like Sarah. She is a designer and has AI to help her. It makes her work faster, better. But I doubt she is more creative, unlike what Bill thinks. The internet is 57% filled with mediocre slop, because every office drone with a generative AI tool can now pretend to be a creative. But no designer ever has dared to #BanFigma for what they have stolen from them. So maybe it’s for the best. Another natural selection in the making. Anyway, according to Bill’s narrative, she is thriving.
Then there’s John. His story is simple. He worked in a factory. Now he doesn’t. Machines took over. He’s out. Retraining was an option, but he is 45. What now? John = fucked.
Sarah’s story is the exception though, and John’s is going to be the rule. And Gates knows this. He’s not pretending otherwise.
But knowing doesn’t fix it, now does it?
By the way, I have turned Sarah and John’s story into a somewhat more elaborate booklet.
Yes, happy end included.
You can read it here: https://www.story.com/ai-stories/ai-technology-stories/the-future-weaving
The clock is ticking
Here’s the hard unwanted truth my few intelligent friends. The future isn’t waiting for you. AI isn’t slowing down. You think you’ve got time, well..…you don’t. The jobs that matter are disappearing faster than cocaine up Charlie Sheen’s nose . The skills you need are changing. And you? You’re standing still. Watching. Waiting. Doubting.
Bill says it’ is time to act for us all. Just learn to code. Adapt, and you will survive. But honestly, not everyone can make such a transition. And so not everyone will. And that is the part that nobody likes to talk about.
The part that makes this all so real and utterly scary.
Because AI doesn’t care about your excuses.
It doesn’t care about your feelings.
It only cares about results.
And if you can’t deliver, you do not belong. Not in this future. Not anywhere.
Signing off from the cracked mirrors of Big Tech, where powdered dreams turn into nightmares.
Marco
Well, that’s a wrap for today. Tomorrow, I’ll have a fresh episode of TechTonic Shifts for you. If you enjoy my writing and want to support my work, feel free to buy me a coffee ♨️
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