The Undiscussed
A few days ago, I watched an interview between Elon Musk and The Economist discussing the future of artificial intelligence, work, and politics.
Like so many conversations about AI, it was fascinating.
And like so many conversations about AI, it completely missed what I believe is the most important question of our time.
Musk argued that within a few years artificial intelligence will perform most economically valuable work. Human labor will become increasingly unnecessary. Productivity will soar. Society will eventually distribute the wealth created by intelligent machines through some form of universal income.
The interviewer pushed back—but mostly on politics.
Should Musk have this much influence?
Is he becoming too powerful politically?
Should technology leaders shape public policy?
Reasonable questions.
But not the essential one.
The essential question is this:
Who gave technology permission to redesign human civilization?
Not simply our economy. Our civilization. Because replacing work is not merely an economic event. It is a human event. For thousands of years, work has been far more than income.
Work is purpose.
Work is dignity.
Work is discipline.
Work is contribution.
Work is where strangers become teammates.
Work is where young people become adults.
Work is where communities are built.
If artificial intelligence removes work from hundreds of millions of people, then the conversation cannot begin with Universal Basic Income.
It has to begin with human meaning.
Because money has never been the deepest purpose of work.
People who believe it has generally misunderstand both economics and humanity.
The second undiscussed issue is even more uncomfortable.
Suppose Musk is right.
Suppose AI really does create extraordinary abundance.
Who exactly do we trust to manage that transition?
Governments?
Corporations?
Technology companies?
Media?
Financial institutions?
Look around. Trust in nearly every major institution has collapsed. That may be the defining political fact of our time.
The tragedy is that this collapse in trust leaves society unable to answer the very questions AI now forces upon us.
If governments are not trusted, who regulates AI?
If regulators are captured, who enforces competition?
If technology platforms become civilization-scale monopolies, who prevents unprecedented concentrations of power?
And if nobody is trusted…
who decides?
This is where the conversation becomes dangerous.
Because artificial intelligence naturally concentrates power. The largest models become better because they have the most data. The most users. The most capital.
The most computing power. The most government contracts.
The largest platforms become larger still.
The first trillionaires emerge not because they invented a better consumer product, but because they own the intelligence infrastructure through which everyone else must live, work, learn, communicate, and transact.
That isn’t simply wealth. That is civilizational leverage.
Yet somehow this remains largely undiscussed.
Instead we argue about personalities. We argue about politics.We argue about the latest social-media controversy.
Meanwhile the architecture of the next civilization is quietly being built.
The irony is that I recently witnessed something that reminded me what may ultimately save us.
The World Cup.
For a few weeks, billions of people temporarily stopped living inside algorithms and political tribes.
Strangers embraced. Families gathered. Cities came alive.
People remembered something remarkably simple:
Human beings are happiest not when they are optimized.
They are happiest when they connect and belong.
No artificial intelligence can replace that. No algorithm can manufacture it. No platform can own it. That is why I remain optimistic.
The answer to artificial intelligence will not simply be better regulation or better technology.
It will require rebuilding trustworthy institutions through radical transparency.
It will require breaking concentrations of power before they become irreversible.
It will require markets that reward creation rather than extraction.
Most importantly, it will require a renewed understanding of what it means to be human.
The real question is not whether AI will become more intelligent.
It almost certainly will.
The real question is whether humanity will remain wise enough to decide what intelligence is actually for.
Because before we debate Universal Basic Income…
before we debate trillionaires…
before we debate political influence…
we need to begin discussing what no one seems willing to discuss.
Not the future of work. The future of human purpose.
And whether we still possess institutions worthy of deciding it.
Your closing line is the real question. I'm not convinced we have the institutions nor any organizations worthy of trust. We have entered an age where the bottom line drives everything and from my perspective I keep wondering "who let the dogs out!"
These three statements are not philosophical:
It has to begin with human meaning.
They are happiest when they connect and belong.
Not the future of work. The future of human purpose.
I had a Guru who was fond of saying “philosophy does not bake bread; I’m a practical Guru.”
I had students who were expelled from traditional high schools, from there they went to continuation schools and from there to prison coming to me on formal probation (ankle bracelets). I introduced them to Regional Occupational Programs, because my slogan was not everyone needs to go to college. One received HVAC certification (identified as a Special Education student) and could read schematics that teachers could not. Another became a CNC machinist; too many success stories to mention but they all found purpose in meaningful work. In mundane astrology the 6th house is the sector of life that governs health, work and service; many social workers and medical professionals have a “pregnant “ 6th house in their chart. In esoteric astrology it’s called the house of Sat Guru Seva, service to the Divine; all your work offered as consecration. Look how self-esteem diminishes when unemployed. Very few trades available where you study under a master crafts person. A man put in a hardwood floor for us; truly Renaissance craftsmanship; few value this level of artistry. A long winded way of agreeing we seek accumulation not leaving anything transcendent artistic or even beautifully practical. When house hunting 100 year old homes we realized none of the woodwork could be replicated today.