Beyond Work: Who Are You Without a Job?
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. . .
I see many people opposing the very existence of AI because they fear being replaced by it — losing their jobs or even entire careers they spent decades building. That fear is understandable. We act according to how we feel, and it is only fair to expect that someone who invested years of effort, identity, and sacrifice into a profession would not want to see it fade away through replacement by machines.
But we cannot ignore a simple fact: machines are better than us at many things. And most of those things are the kinds of work that keep the world running and the economy moving. It is natural, then, that we constantly seek what is faster, more efficient, and more reliable. If it is cheaper, even better.
We use calculators without thinking twice. Yet if you look back, calculators did not replace professionals who worked with numbers — they profoundly transformed their roles. While technology took over the mechanical and repetitive side of calculation, human work shifted toward strategic thinking, interpretation, judgment, and solving complex problems. This same transformation will happen as ASI takes over large portions of the job market. So what will be left for you? For us, as humans?
What remains is the responsibility — and the freedom — to fill our days with something meaningful, something that makes us feel alive. That meaning will be different for each person, but the available paths will not disappear. Notice that I am not talking about the economy here. I am talking about purpose — the deeply personal reason that makes you feel fulfilled and content. And as you already know, purpose is unique to each individual. As for the economy in a post-ASI labor market, that responsibility does not fall on us as individuals. It belongs to decision-makers, policymakers, and leaders who will have to figure out how to keep the system functioning in a healthy way. Because if the economy collapses, it collapses for everyone — including them.
Imagine a world where you no longer need to trade your time and labor for money. Nothing is missing. You lack nothing. You do not have to work. Work becomes optional. It turns into an activity you choose simply to occupy yourself. Now ask yourself: who are you then?
If we are what we feel, what do you feel when you no longer have a traditional profession as we understand it today? What makes you feel good, fulfilled, useful, and relevant within your environment? What makes you wake up every morning genuinely wanting to live the day ahead?
The Japanese have a word for this: ikigai.
Some people feel incredibly fulfilled by helping others. Some enjoy simply talking, gossiping, sharing stories. Others find joy in hobbies of all kinds. There are sports and competitions — remembering that not every competition is a sport. Take the Guinness World Records, for example. It is full of records that serve no practical purpose at all. They exist solely so that the person who breaks them can feel extraordinary and notable. The loudest burp or the highest number of eggs broken with one’s head makes no sense to anyone except the person who achieved it.
And that is precisely the point.
What makes you happy does not need to be useful to others, as a job usually is. It can be something entirely your own. Something that makes you feel good is, by definition, a useful activity — because it directly affects your health and well-being. If we analyze this honestly, even sports are, at their core, entertainment. Yes, sports turn athletes into celebrities, and yes, they move enormous amounts of money through events and audiences. But the fastest runner is not out on the streets chasing criminals, using their speed to catch thieves more efficiently. A Formula 1 driver is not delivering food across your city just because they are exceptionally good at driving fast. They could, but they do not need to.
Athletes are fulfilled simply by being who they are: entertainers.
And even then, entertainment itself is useful to others. But what makes you happy may be useful only to you — or to your family, or to a small circle of friends. Understanding this is essential if you want to know yourself fully and avoid falling into traps. How many times have you heard someone say, “I don’t want to retire — I don’t want to become useless”? And how many times have you heard the opposite: “I can’t wait to retire and finally just live”?
A Constant Reminder and a Note on Responsibility.
Feeling is not a choice. Action is. Between feeling and acting, there is a space — and in that space lives responsibility.
Nothing in this text invites impulsive action. Every action assumes care — for yourself, for others, and for the world we all inhabit.
The truth is that people will always need people.
Robots are useful and impressive, but human interaction is what truly makes the difference. Impressing or pleasing a robot can be satisfying, but it does not compare to the praise of a crowd, the admiration of a child, or the feeling of earning the affection of someone special. Instead of wasting time fearing uselessness, perhaps this is the best possible moment to truly get to know yourself — and to understand who you will be when having a job becomes optional.
If the history of humanity has taught us anything, it is that change is constant. And almost every major change aims, in some way, to improve something for us as humans.
Because how we feel — and how we want to feel — is what truly governs our existence.
Look at how humanity lived two hundred years ago and compare it to today. Improving our quality of life is part of our nature. That does not mean every change is smooth or free of disruption. We make mistakes. Some transitions are painful. But we could not — and would not — return to living under the same conditions as two centuries ago. To me, that is a sign of hope. Even if I do not fully understand how ASI will function in practice, I hold hope that the humans behind this shift will continue to place our species first — especially when it comes to safety and quality of life.
We should not be blind to our flaws and imperfections, but we must be honest about our dependence on one another.
To understand the world, we must understand the species that dominates it — because that species shapes every social, economic, and sometimes even geographical detail of reality. That species is you. The human. It is your responsibility to know yourself in order to make the right decisions. How you feel, and what you do with those feelings, directly impacts the people around you — and, by extension, the environment you live in.
This has been true since the moment humans began to exist in this world, whatever that origin may be. This truth was never hidden. In fact, we have always known that how we feel is the most important thing in our existence.
Want to see the easter egg I promised back at the beginning?
