If You're Not Humbled By What You're Trying to Do

Back in November of 2009, I wrote on this blog:

“If you're not humbled by what you're trying to do, you're not stretching yourself very far.”

Feeling completely competent might be a warning that you've stopped growing, was the message implied 17 years ago. Now, with AI emerging as a force, it might suggest something different.

If AI isn't making you reconsider what you're capable of attempting, you may not be thinking ambitiously enough. And if society isn't creating opportunities for people to attempt more, we may be building an economy that needs fewer of us rather than one that empowers more of us.

In an age when AI is rapidly expanding what individuals can attempt - this notion of stretching yourself is both inspiration and warning. Inspiration because it reminds us that AI - like industrial machinery lifetimes before - is opening up new possibilities. Warning because if we don't aspire for more, we're likely to end up wildly under- or even un- employed in the economy emerging.