s-t-f-u.com/ai
Stop telling people AI will take their job
It isn't a hot take. Everyone has heard it. And the person you're saying it to has a mortgage.
You're not delivering news. Whatever they do for a living, they have thought about this more than you have, at three in the morning.
The prediction is also cheap. It costs you nothing to make, it can't be checked for years, and if it's wrong nobody will remember you said it.
Why it lands badly
It isn't information
They know. They've known since the first demo went round their group chat.
It's a forecast with no cost to you
You bear none of the risk of being wrong. They bear all of it.
It ends the conversation
There's no good reply to "your job won't exist." You've handed them a dead end.
Do this instead
Ask what's actually changed
"Has any of it shown up in your day yet?" is a real question with a real answer.
Talk about the work, not the job
Which parts got easier, which got worse. That's a conversation.
If you have something concrete, offer it
A tool, an intro, a thing you tried. Otherwise it's a prophecy, and nobody wants one.
When it's completely fine
They asked. You're both actually in it and swapping notes. You're their manager and this is a real conversation about their real future, held properly and not over samosas.
Questions people ask
- But what if it's true?
- It might be. Truth doesn't make it useful, and it definitely doesn't make it lunch conversation.