The Era of the Songwriter

As an AI engineer, I get asked about the future of work constantly. Here's my answer: it's unprecedented times for creative people. It just depends on what type of creative you are.

It's the era for the songwriter, not the banjo player

I don't necessarily believe that highly skilled individuals will feel the squeeze in the impending round of AI displacement. I've coined a metaphor for my friends: we're entering the era of the songwriter more than the banjo player. Not to say I don't appreciate a great banjo player or any skill. It's just that the internet age was the skills age. Everyone got to throw themselves out there and be a show-off of whatever variety they wanted.

AI democratizes skill, empowers ideas

In the AI era, all that skill is being condensed down into generalized skill-like outputs. This brings unprecedented capabilities to idea people and creatives in the space of prolific what-ifs. Researchers now have unprecedented space to move forward, because instead of hiring a team of data synthesis analysts and technicians, they can buy a few gadgets, go out into the field, and make history.

The terribleness and the beauty

I know there's a lot of terribleness that comes with AI. Just like with the internet, we'll implement things we regret, have a hard time backtracking, and possibly spoil our lunch. But if we can keep the good things about machine learning and effort offload where it doesn't cause massive displacement and isn't born of stealing other people's work, there are some fundamentally beautiful things happening.

Brilliance left on the sidewalk

These tools can empower artists and thinkers who left so much of their brilliance on the sidewalk behind them, unless they were avid journalists or prolific note keepers. Even the best of those can easily die in a pile of papers in a family wondering what to do with it all. These topics are top of mind for me because I'm inventing something to solve this very issue: so many ideas, so little time, yet knowing that at least a few have value.

For the creative powerhouses

If you're a creative powerhouse with a prolific nature, you'll always enjoy collaborating with humans more than anything. But for your own work time, for your own lonely walks, for your humming strolls while you conjure from the ether, there's hope. Tools are coming for all that chaos and noise and lightning strike and camera reel that flows through your mind too quick to capture.

All I would say is: try to own your own data.