A few days ago, an essay went viral. I mean really viral — around 100 million views in a matter of days. The author, a guy in the AI industry, declared that we're living in a "February 2020 moment"

that artificial intelligence is about to crash into ordinary people's lives the same way COVID did, fast and without warning. His advice? Buy AI subscriptions. Save more money. Spend an hour a day experimenting with tools. And follow him to stay current.

It spread like wildfire. Parents were texting it to their kids. It crossed political lines — conservative pundits and progressive commentators both sharing it with equal alarm. And everywhere I looked, I saw the same reaction: panic.

I want to speak honestly into that panic.

The Fear Is Real — But So Is the Truth

Let me be clear upfront: I'm not dismissing AI. Far from it. I think we're in the middle of one of the most significant technological shifts in human history — right up there with electricity or the steam engine, maybe bigger. AI is real, it's powerful, and it's going to keep getting better at an accelerating rate.

But does that mean millions of ordinary people are about to lose their jobs in some sudden avalanche? No. I genuinely don't think it does.

The fear is understandable. When most people think "AI," they think of free ChatGPT answering their questions. They're only now starting to grasp the fuller picture. And the first question a sensible person asks when they grasp that picture is: "Is my livelihood at risk?"

That's not a foolish question. It's actually the right question. But the answer is more nuanced — and more hopeful — than the panic merchants are letting on.

Why AI Won't Simply Replace Human Labor

Here's what most people miss in this conversation: the question isn't whether AI can do tasks that humans do. It's whether the combination of a human and AI produces better results than AI working alone.

Right now, the answer is overwhelmingly yes.

Think about it. You still need someone to communicate preferences to the AI. You still need someone who understands your customer, your culture, your context. You still need someone to apply judgment, hold accountability, and build the kind of trust that no algorithm can manufacture. The human-AI team — the "cyborg," as some researchers call it — consistently outperforms AI acting alone.

And here's a telling piece of data: in the twelve months since AI coding tools became widely available, job postings for software engineers actually increased. Let that sink in.

The World Runs on Bottlenecks — And That's a Good Thing

If you've ever worked in a real organization — and I have, for decades — you know that efficiency is almost never the limiting factor. The limiting factor is people. Contracts. Regulations. Office politics. Legacy systems. The guy who's been doing it the same way for twenty years. The customer who wants to talk to a human. The manager who's scared of change.

These aren't bugs in the system. They're the nature of the system. And as long as human bottlenecks exist — and they always will — you'll need humans to navigate them. AI can be extraordinarily capable and still not be able to replace the person who knows which phone call to make, or who has the relationship that unlocks the deal.

I've spent over two decades in marketing and business. I can tell you that the difference between a good strategy and a working strategy almost always comes down to human factors — trust, relationships, timing, judgment. Those things don't automate.

Demand Expands to Fill the Space

There's another truth that gets buried in these doomsday conversations: when productivity increases, demand tends to rise to meet it.

Think about software. Every time programming got easier — better tools, better frameworks, cheaper computing — experts predicted fewer programmers would be needed. Instead, the opposite happened. More software got built. More businesses needed it. More people got hired to build it.

The same principle is likely to play out across many fields. AI doesn't just replace work — it expands what's possible. And that expansion tends to create demand that didn't exist before. New needs. New roles. New opportunities for people who are paying attention.

What About the Long Game?

Sure, over a very long horizon, things will change significantly. The role of human labor will evolve in ways we can't fully predict. But that transition will be slower and more gradual than the panic crowd suggests — and by the time we get there, we'll have been living in abundance long enough to adapt.

Throughout history, every major productivity leap has led to the same outcome: people found new things to do with their time and their lives. We went from subsistence farming to building a world where people earn a living as yoga instructors, podcast hosts, and personal coaches. Human beings have an extraordinary capacity to invent meaning, value, and work.

That won't stop with AI.

The Real Risk? The Panic Itself

Here's what actually concerns me: the viral essay wasn't just wrong on the facts. It may be actively harmful.

When ordinary, hard-working people are told that an avalanche is coming — that their skills are becoming worthless and there's nothing they can do — they don't calmly subscribe to AI tools. They get scared. They get angry. And frightened, angry people can build political movements that make destructive decisions.

The real threat to the potential good that AI can do isn't the technology. It's the fear-based backlash that bad messaging creates.

My Take

Build your business, grow your skills, and stay curious. Use AI as a tool — because it's a remarkable one. But don't let the noise convince you that everything you've built, learned, and developed as a human being is suddenly worthless.

The world is run by people. It always has been. And the most valuable thing you can bring to any table — your character, your judgment, your relationships, your integrity — none of that is on the chopping block.

Ordinary people will be fine. And if you build your work on a foundation of real value, real relationships, and real service to others, you'll be more than fine.

That's not wishful thinking. That's the evidence.

What's your biggest concern about AI and your industry? I'd love to hear from you — drop a comment below or reach out directly.