Terror & Excitement · 3X Freedom

Kasim Aslam

3d • Growth

Terror & Excitement

That’s what I’ve felt.

Literally every single day since AI dropped.

Or, more appropriately, since I really started to understand the implications of AI on all of our lives.

It’s such a strange combination of emotions.

Terrified I’m being left behind.

Terrified of being irrelevant.

Terrified of obsolescence.

All mixed up with a level of excitement that makes me feel like I’m going to burst.

Excitement for all of the opportunities I can see (and even those I don’t see yet).

It’s enough to drive someone crazy.

So, I did what all of us do now when we need someone to talk to.

I talked to ChatGPT.

(Fun Fact: From the very beginning the #1 use of generative AI has been therapy.)

The conversation didn’t start with much direction other than I just didn’t want to be so afraid anymore.

I’m already a neurotic, armchair “doomsday prepper” so big shifts like this are designed to agitate the part of me that needs to be ready.

The problem is, I didn’t know what to get ready for.

So I started asking Chat for analogies (which is wildly ironic for reasons you’ll learn if you keep reading the articles I plan on posting).

From an economic perspective, what times in human history are analogous to what we’re experiencing today?

I was looking for the frameworks, the mental models, the “if this, then that” equations that would help me understand what to do.

The problem: There really weren’t any.

In fact, I think that’s where the terror and excitement come from.

We have nothing to compare this to.

So, I went further back.

What times in history (removing the “human” qualifier) are analogous to what we’re experiencing today.

You’re not going to like the answer.

However, please stick with me past the initial shock. I promise, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

You’ve probably already guessed what Chat said (with a little coaxing and then a lot of disclaimers)…

Extinction events.

Uh oh.

There have been five major extinction events in earth’s history (that we know of).

And they provide the best and closest analogy for what we’re currently experiencing with the introduction of AI into our economy and our lives.

Because AI is so destabilizing.

That’s the key term: Destabilizing.

Extinction events were massively destabilizing (obviously).

Economically speaking, humanity has been used to a stable environment.

This is actually true for almost all of human history.

Even in times of tremendous upset and uncertainty the foundations of our lives were still, for the majority of humanity, stable.

And even for those who didn’t fall into that stable majority, there was a reasonable expectation that it would return to stability given enough time.

That’s not true now.

No one is putting AI back into the box.

This destabilization will not only continue for the foreseeable future… it’s only going to accelerate.

Which is why Chat cited extinction events.

Every single mass extinction was catalyzed by a massively destabilizing event (asteroid, super volcano, massive climate shifts, etc.)

That’s how destabilizing AI is for our economy.

The only analogy Chat could find was extinction events.

Deep breath.

Remember, I was asking Chat to reason from an economic standpoint.

Chat wasn’t saying AI is an extinction event that threatened humanity’s survival.

But it WAS saying that AI is an economic extinction event.

Meaning, it threatens the survival of every business on the planet.

In fact, a mass extinction event is characterized by “a loss of roughly 75% or more of all global species within a geologically short timeframe.”

So, what Chat was telling me was 75% of all businesses are going to die. Soon.

Honestly, I probably could’ve guessed that (I’m sure you could too).

So, my follow up inquiry was obvious:

Tell me about the 25% that survived.

What I found blew my mind and changed the way I do business.

I’ll tell you about it tomorrow ;-P

P.S. If you just want to skip to the end, I’m hosting an in-person event built around this new reality. It’s two days, October 15th & 16th, here in Phoenix, AZ. It’s $2k all-in (meals included). Founders & Entrepreneurs only. Come spend a day rebuilding the way you operate around this new reality. Email [email protected] if you’re interested in attending. There may be a discount for folks who have shown a lot of participation in the community :-)

P.P.S.

I write every post and comment myself. No AI. No VAs.

Share = Support 🙏

Thoughtful comments shape what I write next.

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Terror & Excitement