Artificial Intelligence

I’ve lost it. I’ve lost it all. Everything I worked so hard for, everything I dreamed of, everything I was promised. It’s all gone. My reflection is all I can see in the glass frame of my degree. It’s worthless now. Nothing more than a poor excuse for a mirror. A piece of paper that was once worth thousands of dollars, and years of my time, means nothing. The skills I honed over years don’t mean anything. Not when there’s AI software that can do the same thing in seconds, with only a prompt to guide it. My reflection cracks as my fist hits the glass. At least that feels accurate.

They informed me that I was being let go over an email. It’s almost comical if I really think about it, that the email was probably written by the same AI program that was replacing me. It was impersonal and generic. Something I wouldn’t expect from the company I’d worked for over fifteen years. I brought up my concerns when they announced the introduction of this program. I was reassured that this was just innovation, a new tool for me to use, like it would make my job easier. The words efficient and cost saving echo through my head, like a pin ball bouncing back and forth.

Maybe I was naïve to think it couldn’t happen to me. It was naïve to think that I was somehow special. I was special because I was good at my job, because I worked hard for my degree, because I’d tucked years of experience under my belt and did everything the way I was supposed to. None of it mattered when a fraction of my salary could be spent on new Artificial Intelligence that could do the same thing.

It sounds absurd when I think about it. I was in charge of media coordination and market strategy. When I first applied for the job, I remember being told an important aspect was being able to bring a personal touch. I was asked how well I could problem solve, connect with a target demographic, and strategize our next moves. All of which were skills I’d worked tirelessly to perfect. It was my dream job, and I saw it as my final destination, at least career wise.

How am I supposed to tell my wife? She came to me months ago with her own concerns about this new AI technology, and I told her it everything would be okay. She was a journalist for one of the biggest news outlets in the city. I told her there was no way a computer program could do the research and writing that she does. I said it would take decades for something to become so evolved that it could write legible articles on current events. I can still feel the weight of her head on my shoulder as sobs racked her body not even a month later when she lost her job.

I didn’t listen. I didn’t think it was plausible. It spreads like an infection, crippling everyone in its wake while it lines the pockets of those who wield it. When it came for me, I might as well have pulled the covers up and over my head, like a child scared in the night. I dug my head in the sand like an ostrich, knowing something was coming, but too stubborn to think it could be coming for me. I had swaddled myself in the promises I had been fed my entire life; If I took the right path, and did the right things, I would be rewarded with a bright future. Now, I wonder how long my savings will cover our electric bill.

Blood of my knuckles drips onto the floor and I think of Picasso. Would he have found himself replaced by such an absurdity. Will the value of his work devolve as AI proves it can produce the same work. I’ve seen the pictures it can create. My daughter was so excited to show me how an app on her phone could paint her to look like a princess. Her smile was blinding. I should have been more concerned about an app scanning my young daughter face and producing something new. Yet, all I could see was how she beamed as she said look dad, look how pretty it makes me look.

I too had promised her the world. Every time she struggled in class, I would remind her that this was the path to success. It was the same speech my own father would give me, a warning that this is the way the world works and if I wanted to be able to support myself, or have a family, this was the way to do it. I told my daughter that if she worked hard and applied herself, she could do anything. I wonder how I tell her that that’s no longer true. That she’ll have to tip toe her way into a profession that can’t be stolen. That if she doesn’t watch the path she takes, she may one day find the rug ripped out from under her. Looking back, I wish I had told her she was prettier without that app.

I did it all by the book. I graduated high school with honors. I applied to colleges that had the highest rate of hire after graduation. I stayed up countless nights studying for exams and working on papers. I remember wondering if my roommates were also holding back tears at two in the morning. I pinched and saved and held myself accountable for every penny I spent. I made sure to excel in my classes so that my teachers letters of recommendation would be glowing when it came time to apply for internships. I worked tirelessly at one job being paid just above minimum wage, and tirelessly at another where I was paid in experience.

When I met Lillian, I worried I had nothing to offer her. I was still just an intern, and she too was just making her way into the world of journalism. I was head over heels for her, and I thought to myself, it’ll be so worth it when I can give her the world. She loved me regardless of my status, and she was so persistent, it didn’t matter if I thought it was better to wait. We married in the courthouse and figured we’d have a celebration later on, when we were financially stable. She looked so beautiful in her thrifted white dress, and I was just a goofy kid who thought he had it all figured out.

I want to say it’s not fair. I want to pound my fists against the desks of every CEO and tell them how they are ruining lives. I was to scream into the ether until my throat is raw. I gave everything for this, I gave my life to have a stable and lucrative career. All I ever asked for in return, was what I had always been told would be waiting for me at the end. What am I supposed to do now? What is my wife supposed to do? What am I supposed to tell my beautiful daughter as she grows up in a world where her options are so limited by what a computer can do faster.

I wonder how angry I can really be in the first place. How I can justify this rage when this is what society was so hungry for. Can I truly say this wasn’t something I expected, can I be surprised that efficiency might be coupled with greed. This is the way the world works, and I was never lied to about that. It was never hidden that when given the chance to save on costs, a company would pursue that route if it didn’t compromise their production or their business. I was no more than a cog in a machine that had been outgrown. I mean, this is how society progresses right? Bend the world to our will and wonder why it snaps.

I don’t know how I’ll fit into this ever-progressing world, especially when I’d given everything to the world it was before. I don’t know how to move forward. Hell, maybe I’ll asks AI. If I ask for the meaning of it all, will it give me a reason. If I type in the prompt just right, Perhaps it’ll make sense of it all. Maybe it can tell me where my skills are still useful, or maybe it can tell me how to make sense of it all. AI stole everything I worked for, and now I wonder if it’s the only solution for my future.

I will tell my beautiful daughter to find her way on her own terms. I will tell her to look for joy over work and find the crumbs humanity left behind. Grab hold and don’t let go. Don’t depend on an empty promise.