The Future of Work

Hello again my friend,

There’s a storm coming and it’s rewiring how all of us work. It’s serious, and a little scary. I covered the first release of ChatGPT 3 years ago. It was like magic. Since then, the entire working world has changed. Careers, livelihoods, everything’s changing. Fast.

It’s beyond just emails writing themselves. Full-production commercials are made in a day without a camera. Companies worth hundreds-of-millions are built with teams of 10 or less.

My freelance writing used to take hours to research articles, write drafts, and have content ready for clients. Those hours are literally minutes now. That writer working 8 hour days in 2020, can finish their daily workload in less than 2 hours.

If a company had four writers before AI, it’s not surprising when three get laid off. And that’s just writing. That’s not just a statistic, it’s a quiet panic spreading through every company on earth.

Some got laid off. Some changed careers. Others (hopefully you), have been thriving with AI. But now, it’s changing for everyone.

Today, I’m breaking down how I see the future of work, and what we can do when intelligence itself becomes a commodity.

Let’s lock in.

ChatGPT, Grok, Claude, and these big Language Models (AI platforms) are like cheat-codes. But they’re general.

Think of the leverage. Agencies use products like Waldo to complete an incredible competitor analysis in minutes. Their ads, results, income statements, all of this is at our fingertips. A professional analyst, and it gets the job done in minutes, not hours.

Previously, a human product analyst might’ve been the companies secret weapon. They know everyone, the company, initiatives that worked (or failed). They have all the knowledge that makes them more valuable than anyone else. Now, everyone has it.

And what happens when everyone else can download that knowledge in minutes? I’ll share my story on this.

Years ago I worked at an agency with an employee who checked out. They were always late, very lazy, and obviously cruising. But they were never fired. When I asked why, it was a tough, but simple answer.

“They know so much that no one else knows. If we fire them, we lose half our company’s knowledge.” Those days are done. If that company had access to AI, and used it well, that person would have been fired for sure.

Every manager and director at large companies is terrified of this. Because senior leaders (believe it or not) aren’t always smarter, more competent, or more talented. They just know more.

You may think they’re a better decision maker. Again, not always. It’s just that they can make a better decision because they have more information.

This is the shift happening in knowledge work. The director in meetings all day is being replaced by the workaholic who executes at a higher level, and uses AI to know what they need to know.

In a world where knowledge is free, action is the last scarce resource.

The shift is actually applying perspective to that knowledge, and execution. The execs in meetings all day are in trouble.

Applying perspective is really about having ideas. Ideas that are doable, that work, and that can be executed quickly. The challenge now is that the people who get credit for ‘ideas’ are typically the more senior people. That’s a big part of their job.

So if you’re not managing people, and you work all day in front of a computer, keep track of every major idea you share. Every recommendation you offer. Every time something you say ends up working is you adding value. Of course, you have to continue to do the work.

Here’s the bonus I believe changes careers.

Don’t bring up the idea and wait to see what happens. Take an hour or two and do something about it first. Build something. Show something of value before you tell anybody what the idea even is.

Don’t do this:

Do this:

Because when everyone has access to the same information, the winners are the ones who decide on the right priorities, in the right order, and get it done.

This is knowledge work in 2025 and beyond.

This shift isn’t stopping at writing and analysis. Creation itself, video, design, production is next.

There’s a video model (and app that makes videos with AI) that blew my mind. I don’t say this lightly. It’s called Sora. It turns sentences into films. Not storyboards. Not concept art. Films. You used to need a crew, cameras, lights…now it’s all in prompts.

Just watch this:

Full production cinematic videos are possible from a computer in weeks, not years.

If this doesn’t scare you, it should. Sora is available to ChatGPT Pro users without an invite.

But that’s not all they’ve done.

They’ve created a new social media app, very similar to TikTok or Instagram. But the feed is all AI videos. Users can also upload their likeness and make cameos in each others videos.

I’m a bit scared to upload my likeness to this app. I don’t recommend anyone do it either.

But regardless, we’re deep into the future now. But we can’t rush it.

The scams are one thing. They’re about to explode. But something darker is coming.

What happens when detailed AI videos of someone committing a crime have your face on them?

What happens when there are 20 witnesses submitting videos testifying you did it (none of them are real).

What happens when faceless, anonymous social media accounts are paid to distribute these videos?

Be careful with what you share with these apps, and avoid downloading them altogether if you’re not sure about it.

This is the time to enjoy technology, but with vigilance. The future isn’t something to fear, it’s something to navigate. With clarity, care, and a little bit of courage when you’re ready.

Thanks as always for reading.

Now, a word from this week’s sponsor.