I was going to say these are the thoughts keeping me up at night. But my baby's doing a solid job of that all by himself. More accurately, these are the thoughts that run untethered around my brain in the wee hours while I'm shushing him back to sleep and don't have anyone to bring me back down to earth.
Maybe you have some wisdom to ease my worries? Or simple solidarity that I’m not alone in these thoughts and feelings?
The copywriter's existential crisis
Like everyone in my field, I've been thinking about Plan B. If the copywriting industry as we know it is toast. If the only way to survive is going full AI copywriter (which isn't for me – I've been too outspoken for THAT pivot to be remotely credible) or to give up and do something else.
That something else would have to be in the real world. Because another knowledge and/or service based internet business is surely going to get steamrolled by AI too and I'd end up back at square one…
The therapist option (oh wait...)
Ok, so what about a therapist? That's a person-to-person job I could be good at.
SURPRISE – AI can do that.
Research shows that therapy and companionship is the top use of AI among many users.
A recent survey found that Chat GPT might be the largest provider of mental health support in the US. 48.7% of respondents who used AI and reported mental health concerns said they were already using AI chatbots like ChatGPT for mental health support.
Some studies even suggest AI bots can deliver therapy with comparable success to human clinicians, with patients developing strong relationships with their AI therapists. It possibly even outperforms human therapists in areas like empathy and cultural competence.
*Repeat this pattern with every other people-facing, knowledge-based job I can think of…*
The real-world fallback (or is it?)
Then I think about dog walking, massage therapy, hairdressing. Will AI be able to do those things? Doubtful, but once it’s swallowed the job market and we're scratching around on Universal Basic Income, who's going to have the cash for a pet or a haircut, let alone a bloody massage?
So off I spiral into thinking about what living on Universal Basic Income would be like – a return to the barter economy? What skills would be useful then? Growing veg, bee keeping for honey, fixing tractors by hand.
Is that where I'd be best spending my time?
It's like the never-ending hospital chase scene in Terminator 2. Wherever I turn, wherever I run, up pops fucking AI to blast a hole in things.
I don't have any answers.
But I also wonder why there isn't more widespread alarm about this possible future? Am I overthinking it? It's hard to get perspective from inside the vortex of my own anxiety.
The cognitive dissonance is strong with this one
This is why I feel a weird cognitive dissonance when I see people getting excited about this tech. Are they not thinking about the end game? Or do they see it clearly and they're feathering their own nest before the shit hits the fan? Hoping they end up on the side of the haves, not the have-nots?
I usually try to end on an upbeat note but I don't have one today. Instead, I'm heading out to build a new compost heap. Because healthy soil is going to be the most valuable currency post societal collapse, right?
Now where did I put my gardening gloves…
.png)