I’m going to share something with you that most people won’t see until it’s already happened.
A week ago, I attended the Abundance360 Summit in Los Angeles. It’s a $30K a year mastermind for CEOs and founders who want to learn about exponential technologies.
It’s one of the most important events if you’re looking to grow and expand your business in the age of AI.
I learned from industry titans like Peter Diamandis, tech leaders building the next generation of agentic AI, and even Elon Musk, who dropped in for a conversation over Zoom.
What they shared is a picture that you will see as scary or beautiful, depending on your lens.
This is what I’m going to share in this newsletter.
A stark prediction from people building the tech that will change the world.
When the event ended, I grabbed footage, took notes, and compiled everything using my own personal AI.
And on the final day of the event, I found myself sitting around a quiet fire with Peter Diamandis, Keith Ferrazzi (the relationship architect and Mindvalley author behind Ultimate Leadership), and a couple of tech visionaries.
The conversations were different at night. Less public. More real.
I got Peter’s permission to share what was said.
And sitting around that fire, I realized something that’s been keeping me up ever since.
What keeps me up at night is the gap between what we as human beings see happening and what the world is really understanding.
What Peter actually said that night
These are my connected notes from listening to Elon Musk and Peter Diamandis.
Peter laid out three waves of economic transformation with such mathematical certainty, such engineering clarity, that I realized: this isn’t prediction. It’s engineering that’s already underway.
This is what’s going to happen over the next 10 years.
Wave one · 2025–2028: Automation and job displacement
Think about the Industrial Revolution. Twenty-five years of displacement — of pain, upheaval, and social transformation — before the world adapted to machines replacing physical labor.
We are going to experience the equivalent of that 25-year transition in approximately two years. Expect major upheaval between 2027 and 2029.
AI gets cheap and ubiquitous. Not in the way it feels now — where you open a browser and type a question. The way electricity got ubiquitous. Invisible. Everywhere. Assumed.
People are losing their jobs. Young college graduates can’t buy cars. They’re angry. The government does the only thing it can: print money. Call it UBI.
Peter’s estimate: $3,000–$4,000 a month. Maybe more.
Everyone, he went on to say, will get an income check from the government of around $36,000 a year.
In this first wave, the government starts printing money to cover the cost of this great upheaval:
- money to fund the unemployed
- money for universal basic income
- money to fund money to prevent a revolution as jobs and job losses reach unbearable heights
Wave two · 2028–2031: Robot labor and deflation
Now it gets interesting but also significantly better.
The feds will drop interest rates, hoping to spur companies to hire more humans, but why would they? Instead, they would hire AI agents and Optimus robots, cheaper and more productive.
Here’s the wild part: as robotics and AI proliferate, prices start dropping exponentially. The cost of transport goes down as cars are driven automatically by AI. Transport prices drop, and the cost of producing goods plummets.
And the best part is, we aren’t going to have a Terminator-type Skynet, a single AI company dominating us. Elon estimates that there are at least five to ten companies right now that will be thriving during this era, competing with each other and thus driving down prices for the rest of us.
Right now, there are already at least 10 AI companies competing for your attention. The cost of every AI service is collapsing. Ten competing AI companies will drive the price of intelligence toward zero. Deflation becomes the dominant economic force.
And here’s what that actually means in real terms. Peter’s actual quote around that fire: “A mountain of Optimus robots builds me a beautiful mansion for the cost of raw materials.”
UBI income that seems modest — $3–4K a month — is actually more than enough because everything costs a tenth of what it did. Your money doesn’t buy things. It buys choices.
This brings us from universal basic income to what Elon calls universal high income. Everyone starts living richly.
Wave three · 2031–2036: Post-scarcity abundance
Work becomes optional for the first time in human history. But doesn’t this work become optional? This is the era where, according to Peter, we escape longevity; we stop death itself.
This is called longevity escape velocity, and what it means is that human beings no longer have to die. You could practically live forever. Peter said the first group of humans who could live to a thousand may be alive today and could be in their 60s.
The year-by-year picture
2026: The collective shift from “AI is a tool” to “AI is the economy now.”
Big shift for this year: AI will be able to write software better than software engineers. What AI did for copywriters will now happen to software engineers, and this means anyone can now build software. This is why the market caps of software companies are collapsing rapidly. This is the year your kids stop believing credentials are a guarantee. This is the year the job market starts getting weird. This is the year you need to think differently about what matters.
2027: The line between “job” and “calling” dissolves.
Companies that embraced AI early see 10–50x productivity gains. Companies that didn’t? They’re hemorrhaging. The deflationary wave begins.
2028: At least 10 major developed nations implement Universal Basic Income.
Not out of charity. Out of necessity. The math demands it. Elon’s words: “The economy could be 10x larger within a decade if current trends persist and catastrophic disruptions are avoided. And I’m fairly comfortable with that forecast.”
2029–2030: Cost of living collapses in AI-driven sectors.
GDP per capita is up 3–5x in developed nations. With material needs met, humanity turns inward. Consciousness becomes the frontier.
2031–2032: When work becomes optional
This is the year humanity crosses a threshold it’s never crossed before.
Work is genuinely optional. Not because of welfare, but because AI handles execution, robots handle production, and Universal Income is enough because everything costs a tenth of what it did. Unemployment has been “solved” in the sense that it’s not a crisis anymore. It’s a feature.
The question shifts. Instead of “how do I get a job?” people ask “what do I actually want to do?”.
2033: Longevity escape velocity (when dying becomes optional)
And then something beautiful happens.
For the first time in history, medical science extends life faster than aging progresses.
By 2033, for every year that passes, therapies add more than a year to healthy lifespan: Longevity escapes velocity.
A 50-year-old alive today can reasonably expect to see 100+.
A 30-year-old? 150+.
People will literally be getting younger.
Anti-aging therapies that were experimental in 2025 are going mainstream. 60-year-olds will look like 40-year-olds.
If you have children, think about this: your kids could genuinely live for centuries.
Not metaphorically. Biologically. That’s not sci-fi. That’s engineering in progress.
Your work might span 100+ years. Your relationships with your children might span 150 years. That changes how you think about legacy.
The part nobody talks about: Prepare for abundance psychologically
Peter said something I haven’t been able to shake:
“The biggest crisis is not going to be ‘how do I keep up with AI?’The biggest crisis is going to be when all of my work is gone, and I have to figure out how to find meaning.”
And here’s something fascinating: Europeans will have an advantage in navigating this. Because Europeans don’t tie their identity to their jobs the way Americans do.
When the work disappears, and it will, Americans are going to need to completely rebuild their sense of self.
The question isn’t “how do I stay productive?” It’s “Who am I without productivity?”
Your operating system for the exponential decade: SOULPACT
This is a life operating system I built to navigate exponential change.
Not philosophy. A survival strategy.
Ask yourself these questions:
Soul — Do what lights you up. In a world of exponential AI, only authentic passion survives. Automation is coming for routine tasks. Your uniqueness becomes your moat. This is your permission slip to do the work only you can do.
Opportunity — Create space for exploration. The old playbook of “pick a career at 22 and ride it for 40 years” is dead. Stay nimble. Stay curious. Your ability to adapt and explore will determine your impact.
Unique Edge — Become undeniably you. AI is great at average. What it can’t do: tap into your lived experience, your perspective, your vision. The competitive advantage is in being so authentically yourself that your value becomes singular.
Love —Deepen your connections. Money becomes less relevant. Status becomes noise. What stays precious? The people you love. Your kids. Your partner. Your community. In abundance, relationships are everything.
Purpose — Align with something bigger than yourself. In an age of abundance, meaning becomes the real currency. The people who’ll thrive are solving real problems for real humans, not chasing metrics.
Abundance — Embrace it. Don’t apologize for it. The future will have unimaginable abundance. Position yourself before the exponential curve hits. Use abundance to build, create, and serve.
Calmness —Master your nervous system. The noise is going to get louder. Headlines will be insane. Your edge is internal regulation. Meditation. Breathwork. Time in nature. A calm mind navigates exponential change. A panicked mind makes terrible decisions.
Time — Reclaim ownership of your schedule. You’re not building for quarterly returns. You’re building for multi-generational impact. Say no to everything that doesn’t align with Soul, Love, and Purpose. Make time sacred.
I put all of these ideas above into a 60 mins speech I called SOULPACT.
You can listen to it on the YouTube video below:
Why I’m telling you this
Because someone needs to say it clearly.
The exponential decade isn’t coming. It’s here.
The only question is whether you’re going to navigate it consciously or get swept up in it.
You can either:
Stay in the linear economy — pretend the old rules still apply, optimize for credentials and job security, hope the robots take longer than expected.
Panic and prepare for collapse — assume the worst, hoard, protect what you have.
Or
Build consciously for the exponential future — position yourself for abundance, develop your irreplaceable gifts, deepen your relationships, and find your SOULPACT alignment.
The third option is the only one that leads somewhere good.
And this is why, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (March 20-22), I’m bringing 5 top AI Experts together for AI SUMMIT, one of the most focused & interactive AI learning experiences for your future.
Three days. LIVE. 150,000 people are joining us from around the world.
We’re going to get you caught up with AI.
Not in theory.
On the actual method: the AI-First framework, which lets you ride this wave instead of getting swept away by it.
No recordings. No replays. This is the only window this year.
Claim your FREE spot
The question I want to leave you with, the same one that keeps coming back to me when I think about the next generation:
“If work becomes optional, what would I actually want my life to be about?”
Sit with that for a minute.
Write down your answer.
Not the answer you think you should give. The real one.
That answer is your SOULPACT. That’s your north star for the next decade.
Everything else flows from there.
Stay grounded. Stay curious. And start asking yourself the real questions.
— Vishen
P.S. Leave a comment below, and let me know what you think about: The credential economy is collapsing in real time. The question isn’t whether that’s happening. The question is whether you’re building the thing that makes you irreplaceable, or waiting for a guarantee that’s already expired.
98 Responses
Hi there, I am always thrilled with these insights and immediately feel in line what is written. Then,…, I Pause and Look for my My purpose. I am 67 by now raised 4 children and I have grandchildren in middle America. There the world is governed by drugs, criminal Gangs and the Impression The World is deciding about our countries in the region based on a few guys who decide if there will be war and deep suffering by civil Society…. Well I guess you know the cenarious I am Talking about…. On my behalf I have Taken many Mindvalley Quests and Soul work and connecting with others is Part of my purpose. I am on my way to finish three Trainings with certificates on Energy Medicine Level 1 Donna Edens teaching program from immer Source, than Ahnencode method pracritioner from Ursula Garo from Switzerland, I am writing my Thesis and I have worked passed the 100 Sessions , and I am aswell involved in a 12 months certificate course by another Swiss Lady and her husband call Elternkunst. Why do I Tell you This? It is my purpose, my purpose in my life to be as knowledgable as I can get to Support other people, mainly stressed out Mothers who as well turn out to have lived through some Type of Sexual violence. So here I would love to have Access to all These AI Tools to reduce the time for Admin work and spend my time with people. I still do not know whether I missed out These amazing Coaching offers by Mindvalley.
Well I am a trained Finance expert working many years in Switzerland but as well in Costa Rica. So I have so many ideal how to work with people who are traumatized and want to stop to pass there Heritage of Stuck feelings to their Kids. So, I try to get the best out of your Events Vishan, and still I feel overwhelmed, I know, not helpful to feel overwhelmed,…, But how can I get into all These Tools to be effective, to be Seen and to Share my Knowledge. I even Not able to attend This Weekend as I am working for the red Cross This Weekend.
Your Quest Saved my life, I paid my first quests one by one, and I practice the 6 Phase method, i am not doing it anymore, I am a member since a few years and I feel more and more lost in all these learnings. However, I am with you as you are purpose driven, Planetary Health…
Now you talk about longevity, I Provider my Kids to do all the best to be healthy when I die.
We live in This World that is bigger than Europe and USA. Where is the humanitarian thinking? Where are the Agricans, Asian and Southamericans in all this? Robots in the Amazon?
I might have to overcome my „Safe the World“ thinking. Starting in myself… and… still overwhelmed.
Dear Vishan, admiro tu gran corazon a compartir tus pensamientos. Gracias.
Thank you, 🙏 Gertrud, your service to humanity is immense… many, many blessings to you.
Sincerely, Inger A.
Very interesting summary. Though it looks very much like a Californian view of the world, not a global view. Because what is happening in China, India, Europe, South America? Who is going to pay for this? How are the companies in esting now billions getting their return? If products get cheap, nobody is working to ear money who is then paying taxes to pay UBI? If it is done by printing money, this money is very having no value.
So more questions then answers……
Thanks, Vishen, this is all very important and interesting.
Reading the previous comments, I must agree with a lot of the skepticism.
There is one point that I feel was not addressed enough – both in your newsletter and in the comments – that of a necessity of a tremendous drop in energy costs.
Energy cost is the most fundamental variable the needs to become “cheap and ubiquitous”, as you put it.
When that happens – I’ll truly believe this vision, Vishen.
If we find a way to move away from fossil fuels into a truly clean energy source – then this can all happen quickly.
Right now, this is a major bottleneck that is holding the revolution back.
While some of these predictions may happen according to your described schedule, others will be delayed by energy.
Cheers.
I am left wondering about education and our youth, how will this change look in education? How will institutions, starting from grade school shift and react to this transition…
Amazing article. Inspiring. Nurturing for the thought process.
Without realizing I was setting myself towards my uniqueness. And what makes me irreplaceable. In my vision I am to remove myself from corporate world and turn toward serving the collective and assisting them finding their Core and Keep with it. Obey it.
Looking forward to the summit.
Thank you for sharing this with us. It’s all very interesting and absolutely fascinating. But apart from the fact that no one has ever been able to predict the future with any accuracy, I wonder why, on the one hand, you’re sharply criticising what’s currently happening in the US, whilst on the other hand you’re discussing AI with the fascist Elon Musk without giving a thought to his thoroughly anti-social interests. There’s also a lot of megalomania at play here, and that’s a danger. Besides, what about environmental destruction? What about the massive consumption of resources required to run AI? How will AI stop climate change? Wars? Hunger? It would be great if you could delve a bit deeper into the whole subject.
I ditto this, massive oversights around humanity, the earth….that many of these folks – Musk esp. are seriously greedy fascists who disregard the well being of the earth and all of humanity that isn’t their personal “bubble.”
Sounds amazing but I have so many questions: did anyone talk about the environment, resource management, agriculture, and meat production? It feels like Peter D’s predictions were based on entrepreneurial thinking and the tech industry – I’m not sure it takes into account how the rest of the world actually works. Did they talk about Government debt and how poor the richest countries governments are (the US is trillions in debt, so is all of Western Europe) – where is the money for universal income coming from, in just 2 years time, particularly given that even cheaper tech means even cheaper tax which means even less government revenue? I’d love to know more about the economics outside of the tech bubble and tax havens. What about education and the school system – I’m in the UK and we still have and revere the Victorian classical system (your daughter is at a quintessential English private school) – given the inability over the last 100 years to change that, do you think change will happen that quickly here with everyone very attached to the Harry Potter aesthetic 😄?
All this is amazing, but it’s also truly fascinating how NONE of these big brains includes anything in their predictions about the state of the planet, the ecosystems collapsing, the climate getting berserk, the massive exctinction rate… All of this is already happening and accelerating, and yet you all completely ignore it. You ignore the real actual planet we live on, and act like the resources are infinite. Spoiler: they are not. We have already used up more than our and even our grandkids share of natural ressources.
My prediction is: none of the things you wrote about will happen, because the the real (actual, physical) planet we live on is already collapsing.
Prepare for that instead. At the very least, include it in your predictions, instead of pretending the physical world doesn’t exist. Like we all live in an theoretical economical dream that can go on forever. It’s completely delusional.
I really appreciate this article and already feel the urgency to support people to look inward, do their personal work, and find their authenticity. What I find challenging to accept about this proposed future is the full transition to AI driven productivity and work becoming optional. I have the same questions as A. Kramer. Some jobs simply cannot be done by AI or a robot. Healthcare is a clear example. People are called to that type of work but the work is HARD. Perhaps we can imagine that we will eliminate all disease and cure all illness. But the hands on skills needed to work with someone with a traumatic brain injury and multiple broken bones from an accident (as an example) requires years of education, mentored experience, and commitment from a whole team of practitioners. Our healthcare system needs to be torn down and re-built but I struggle to imagine how this will happen and how enough people will choose this career path if they don’t “have” to work.
I’ve been reflecting deeply on this.
I’ve been aware of the changes happening in the world for quite some time, and I can sense the direction we are moving toward. Instead of ignoring it, I’ve been quietly building something of my own—rooted in my life experiences, my story, and what I’ve learned along the way.
I made a promise to myself that this path is not only for me, but to create something meaningful that may help others as well.
Even when the path is not fully clear, I can feel that it is the right one. And because of that, I carry a sense of calm and trust within me, no matter what unfolds along the journey.
Thank you for this powerful reminder. — Nuchanat 🤍
All of this is fascinating to me and way beyond anything I ever imagined in the past. In one way though, I feel that I am prepared for this. My whole life my focus has been about doing what is meaningful to me and not worrying about status or a certain job.
But what I wonder about with this new abundance is, will we be using up the earth’s resources even faster than we are now.
The other thing I wonder about is related to the idea that there is enough for our need but not for our greed. Will the situation continue to get worse, where so many people are suffering in terrible poverty while others have so much more than they need. Or will we be able to use AI so that all can live in abundance or will just the ones who control AI be able to live in abundance.
For many years I have had the idea that things that are powerful, like fire or atomic energy, can be very helpful or very destructive-depending on how wisely humans use them.
I appreciate the topic, but the series of articles does not include the impact of AI data centers on the earth’s water supply. I need an article that faces the devastation in store if we do not protect water sources. Data centers are using up too much water. Plastics? Toxins? Unbridled Consumerism? What about migration of humans from areas that become uninhabitable? How will humans continue if the planet surface is forfeited? A universal high income will not be able to make up for that. Please help me understand the whole picture.
I love hearing stuff like this, especially timelines, and Im excited at the ultimate positives that might be. However. Everytime I hear things like this, there is one very VERY specific thing I never hear discussed, and that omission seems to me to be so catastrophic, as to potentially render all the other future predictions null and void.
No one ever discusses the evil that resides in the heart of man.
Evil from above, as world leaders seek to establish a 24-7 surveillance state (“for the children’s safety”) that can become a dystopian Authoritarian control nightmare. We have already seen abuses in this area without full AI rollout.
Evil from abroad. If a leader rises up like a particular German leader in the 20th Century. Imagine ruthless world conquest guided by AI.
Evil from within. I mean, we have child and women sex trafficking today and literal human slavery in the world, and no solutions to that, let alone those who are child predators. I see intelligent people with evil intentions harnessing the same AI technology to further their own (evil) ends, as those with nobel intentions would use it to elevate humanity. No one discusses the evil applications of AI, but there absolutely will be evil applications. Like a knife that butchers a chicken, or carves a statue, or cooks a meal, or surgically saves a life, or stabs an innocent bystander – the knife is only the tool, it is the hand that uses it. No one discusses the evil hand that will wield AI.
I have seen evil. It is real.
And any discussion of AI without discussing its ability to amplify evil is incomplete, perhaps a bit pollyanna. I am waiting to see someone openly discuss this.
I am hopeful, but I do not have the blind faith in the goodness of humanity. Hundreds of millions – read that again – HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of humans were killed without computers in the 20th century. I see absolutely nothing in AI that prevents it being used for evil to kill even more, or to enslave, or abuse.
Perhaps I am mistaken, but I see much more profit in using AI for evil than for good.
I am pretty certain that your predictions will not come true as stated. Not because they are nonsense, but because visionary thoughts hardly ever happen when they are predicted. I remember growing up with a book that described the Year 2000 …and I am still waiting for the flying cars all around us.
Some of the things will happen, many will not either ever at some later point in time.
A dramatic drop in prices of goods and services is highly unrealistic. Companies will still compete with each other and the people running the companies will continue to make as much money as possible. If countries will print money to pay a UBI, then that UBI will have extremely low buying power because prices will have increased hugely.
You are also completely ignoring how political issues can and will influence the future. What you wrote completely ignores that there will still be (incompetent) politicians who will make decisions for other reasons than improving the conditions around us.
And living forever? The Musk’s in this world might achieve that soon. For the rest us it will take a LOT longer
I’m counting on it being recorded and available to watch after because it starts at 2am in Australia. A good life begins with good quality sleep.
I’m curious if UBI will pay my mortgage, doesn’t sound like it, yikes.
Hi Vishen,
There are aspects of current reality that I do not see reflected in your thoughtful vision.
Despite the uptake in renewable energy, fossil fuel use is projected to stay high as countries in Southeast Asia and Africa industrialize. China is building new coal-fired power plants.
The consequence: global warming will increase – fires, floods, unbearable heat domes.
Current loss of cloud cover over the oceans, and the loss of Arctic sea ice mean that we are headed for what some call a ‘hothouse Earth’ where many places become uninhabitable for humans.
This is not speculation. It is trend.
Water levels in the great underground reservoir– the Ogallala Aquifer – that provides irrigation for the American Midwest, one of the ‘bread baskets of the world’, are falling. A new American dust bowl will come. The phenomenon of falling water tables is global.
Industrial toxins – ‘forever chemicals’ – are everywhere. We are poisoning ourselves.
Likewise, we are destroying the thin web of algae on the oceans that are the basis of the oceanic food chain. Instead of fish we will have jellyfish. That web of life is called the ‘surface microlayer’. The algae are being poisoned by industrial toxins and untreated sewage.
It is difficult to imagine that we could affect something as vast as the oceans, but in fact the oceans are also becoming more acidic. Small crustaceans that are part of the food web cannot form their shells properly.
That’s the ecological side.
Socially, we have huge amounts of childhood trauma. Many traumatized people carry suppressed rage as adults. It gets acted out as more child abuse, domestic violence, and violent international relations.
As you would know, we have wars in Ukraine and Iran, as well as elsewhere, many funded by the United States. European nations are increasing their military budgets out of fear of Russia. Australia, where I live, is developing bases for nuclear powered submarines and long-range heavy bombers in preparation to join with America to attack China. China is our major trading partner. Go figure!
In an age of hypersonic unstoppable nuclear missiles, what do you think is most likely outcome of this heightened militarized geopolitical competition?
Putting all this together, it appears to me that we are headed for ecological and social catastrophe.
These trends are happening now, not sometime in the future. Much grief will come; the current system has huge momentum.
Avoiding the worst of coming catastrophes will require a profound shift in people’s aspirations and understanding.
The predominant global aspiration is ‘economic growth’. Economic growth (plus population) drives the industrialization that is destroying our ecological life support systems. We cannot live without industry, but we could slow it.
We would do well to embrace a positive goal: evolving a compassionate ecologically sustainable world.
Your MindValley network is hugely influential. I suggest that you would do well to initiate a conversation about mobilizing public will to do everything required to pull out of our ecological nosedive.
As you might imagine, I have given some thought to this. The League of Evolutionary Catalysts is set up to empower regular people to become influencers in this space. We provide innovative communication tools.
I would be happy to talk.
Andrew Gaines
League of Evolutionary Catalysts
andrew.gaines@evolutionarycatalyst.net
+61416489809
Wow this is so aligned with an article I posted last week! I’m an artist and everyone in my artistic community thinks AI is evil and that we are destined for dystopia. I feel the opposite, so I wrote an article sharing my vision for the feature. I talk about how artists are the best positioned to help people learn to live a life of meaning separate from income generation, similar to what you say about Europeans.
Here’s the article if anyone is interested, especially any artists here. https://denniscorsi.substack.com/i/190573737/
I have no problem being – and living without tying my worth to a job. But this seems so fundamentally flawed for the human race:
While marketed as a happy Utopia – what’s not stated is
How do you have to alter your humanity to become a person who never dies? You simply transfer your consciousness to a machine who lives forever or do they inject you so your body continues to re-grow young cells and anti-age (like Benjamin Button)? And what is wrong with death? It is actually celebrated in most religions.
Who pays for the energy bills? Technology uses a lot of energy and while it’s possible to do it without the oil industry, the major powers of the world have made it very difficult. So where’s the money to pay for that if the people don’t have their own money any more?
Also – what happens if you don’t fit in with the Elite Race/Class? Are they going to give people of color or certain accents, or women the same amount of money in America?
Will that be enough to support my family? How will that allow me to buy “clean” groceries like un-manufactured (no DNA tweaking) to my meat, fish, eggs and veggies for example? Will organic plants and animals even exist?
Why are we messing with pure “humanity” at all, if not to make a certain group of people very wealthy? And if we are all “Utopianly living” – how will certain authoritarian governments control us? They will always want to shift status to make more and more money for themselves. It’s a governing business based on greed – so if there is no need to work harder, better, smarter, more – the only other way is to control us through giving us Less and less… So they start with $36k a year (Poverty level – in first world societies), the only way to keep the people down is to give less and less over time… And these machines make no waste? Who takes care of the waste? Where does it all go? Who handles the toxicity of it?
I’m not arguing. I can totally see this happening. And for me it’s disturbing.
I think the Human Being is one of God’s(The Universe’s) most Miraculous Creations! (As is the planet that was designed to sustain us.)
We are (our human systems) perfect in so many ways. Mess with this and you mess with existence itself. So why are the 1% willing, able and excited to mess with the existence of the 8.3 or so humans on the planet? And why is this OK?
PS – It just hit me – If the top 5 billionaires gave 1 BILLION each (and 4 billion from Elon because he has over 800B’s – double or triple the others) to each human on the planet – then wouldn’t that put us all in a state of Euphoria without first crippling the planet. And that 1-4 Billion is so small to their entire net worth, it would have virtually no effect on their lives/families/income or legacy. No strings attached. Now that would be Utopia..
Thanks for daring to share what no one else would (yet)..
Ohhhhh Vishen. In a world of so much chaos and uncertainty this is the best news I’ve heard in ages. The environmental cleanup is the most exciting part, getting these robots onto Indonesias beaches and the oceans can’t happen fast enough.
Response: If work becomes optional, what would I want my life to be about?
If work as we know it becomes optional, the question is not what I would do instead. The question becomes more essential. What is worth giving my life to, independent of necessity, status, or survival?
For me, the answer is very simple. I would continue doing exactly what I do now.
I am a Jungian analyst and psychotherapist. My work is to sit with another human being and enter, together, the unfolding mystery of their inner life. I help people listen to their dreams, understand the symbolic patterns that shape their lives, and gradually free themselves from unconscious forces that limit their sense of safety, authenticity, and meaning.
This is not just work. It is participation in something much larger than myself.
We are living through a time of extraordinary technological change. Artificial intelligence is transforming how we think, create, and solve problems. It is already assisting me in my work in meaningful ways. It helps me track patterns across time, reflect on sessions, and deepen continuity in the therapeutic process. It extends memory. It sharpens reflection. It supports insight.
But there is something it cannot replace.
Healing happens in relationship. It happens when one human being is truly seen and understood by another. It happens in the presence of attention, care, and emotional truth. That encounter, that shared field between two people, is not mechanical. It is alive.
And even beyond that, there is something greater still.
Every night, across this planet, billions of people dream. The psyche speaks continuously, offering images, guidance, warnings, and possibilities for growth. This inner life, this symbolic intelligence, has been present long before any technology and will remain long after. It is the deeper source from which meaning arises.
AI may change how we live. But the psyche determines how we respond to what is happening to us. That is where my life finds its meaning.
My own dreams guide me. They reveal aspects of myself that are not yet lived. They point toward growth, toward integration, toward becoming more fully who I am. And in working with others, I witness that same process unfolding again and again in unique and deeply human ways.
Carl Jung wrote, “Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” He also wrote, “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
If work becomes optional, then what remains is this privilege.
I would devote my life to helping people awaken to themselves. To listen more deeply. To live more truthfully. To discover meaning not as something imposed from the outside, but as something emerging from within.
In that sense, my life would not change. It would deepen.
Because this work is not something I have to do. It is something I am called to do.
And even in a world transformed by technology, the human soul, the need to be known, the longing for meaning, and the journey toward wholeness will remain.
And whatever the future brings, I will remain devoted to this: to the soul, to the unfolding of consciousness, and to the quiet, sacred work of helping a human being become who they are meant to be.