The Transition

Over half the world says AI makes them nervous. And a similar number think AI will bring more benefits than drawbacks. We’re optimistic, but scared. We can see some kind of upside but we don’t know how we fit. This is the Transition – we’re moving from our pre-AI world to a world that needs fewer of us to do the same work.

Six years ago, AI was still mostly theoretical for the rest of us. Junior engineers were starting careers assuming they’d still be writing code in 30 years.

Things have changed, quickly. Copywriting work demand dropped by 30% in 2025. At the same time, AI-related projects earned 44% more per hour than non-AI projects. Content writing is listed among the top 10 most in-demand AI-related skills on Upwork. We’re seeing the Transition happening in real-time; businesses still need copy and content, they now want people who can wield AI to create it.

This will happen in other industries. It’s happening in mine. Companies that used to hire 5 juniors are now hiring 2 mid-levels to use AI tooling. We’re seeing layoffs. A Silicon Valley software engineer: “I’m basically a proxy to Claude Code. My manager tells me what to do, and I tell Claude to do it.”

If you’re feeling scared by this, but you’re not doing anything about it yet, you’re not alone. It’s not wrong to feel scared. 73% of AI experts think AI will make work better. Only 23% of everybody else does. The people who are using it regularly, who are engaged in the Transition, are seeing the future now. They’re not necessarily forward-thinkers or optimists, they’re seeing what it can do first-hand.

The size of the gap is what matters. It’s produced some kind of paralysis in the 77%. People aren’t opting out deliberately, they just haven’t been exposed to AI in a way that’s engaged them. They may have used ChatGPT in 2025, and mocked the hallucinations or odd writing style. Things have moved on rapidly since then, and continue to do so.

Maybe we are in a bubble. Maybe this is hyped up beyond what’s reasonable. Timelines can be debated. The shape of the Transition may not be obvious. But the direction of travel is clear and unarguable. Betting on this all going away isn’t being cautious, it’s denying reality.

The choice to make isn’t to engage or not. It’s when. Every knowledge worker will be affected. You can be part of the Transition or be one of the people who get replaced. Being a passenger now isn’t a sustainable option.

Being engaged is changing how you work. It’s not asking ChatGPT to review your emails. The experts are rebuilding their workflows around AI. They’re building reusable prompts, standing integrations, and repeating workflows – concepts that anyone can learn and use. They start their day and their admin is already done, waiting for review. The routine, repetitive work is taken care of.

Being engaged is being the person in the room who knows. Every team and company needs people who understand what’s possible with AI tooling. The person who knows will be the one shaping the decisions. If this isn’t you, your workflow will change but you won’t be deciding how it changes.

Underneath this is a required mindset shift. You need to get comfortable with being a beginner again. The tools you learn now will likely be outdated in 6 months. Things are moving fast. The people who survive the Transition aren’t mastering a particular tool or technique. They’ve made peace with always being a beginner, having to constantly learn.

I’ve been engaged for a while now, and I’m still a beginner. I’m not ahead because I’ve figured it all out, but because I’ve begun. Most people haven’t. The question isn’t if you’ll engage or not. It’s if you do it while it’s still early.