In the same way that society reflects back on the horrific child labor practices of the Industrial Revolution, one day, it will seem incredulous that humans worked 50-60 hour work weeks, using their brains (considering that 4-5 hours a day of intellectual work maxes out our brains). The rise of AI will be as disruptive as the Industrial Revolution, and usher in a new era of work. 

The Future of Work

We’re moving towards the technological automation of intellectual labor and a mass societal movement towards micro-entrepreneurship. With many employees no longer satisfied with the standard 9-5 office jobs, we see the next generations of workers opt for “employment at will”, seeking more freedom in their day-to-day lifestyle.

We’ll see personal brands becoming increasingly important, more equitable “employment” structures, and a fundamental shift towards an open source economy focused on collaboration and meaningful contributions.

While one iteration of this trend is the freelancing model, we’re curious to explore what the implications of AI will be on this. We all love a good source of passive income — with many popular options existing already, such as creator-led on-demand courses, real estate, ebooks, and more.

The question is – as a society, will AI enable all of us to have the luxury and freedom that passive income sources offer? Will we all create agent LLMs to bring in our income and work on our behalf, whilst we enjoy a life of leisure? If AI liberates us from labor, is that necessarily a bad thing? Maybe — we might just experience more abundance as a society.

Creator Economy

Once democratization leads us to a point of abundance, we shift to curation.

The future of work will undoubtedly accelerate the rise of the creator economy. With an oversaturation of products and services widely available in the market, creators are the key to curation for consumers sifting through thousands of options. In a world where everyone is trying to sell you everything, everywhere, all at once, social proof and trust become increasingly fundamental.

Similar to how most of us no longer sew our own clothes given the abundance of clothing options we have available, our focus has now shifted to curation. Endless content creators share their fashion hauls, share styling tips, and recommend their favorite brands to eager consumers looking to create their collections. Similarly, we can expect to see similar trends emerge in the NFT space, in music (festivals curating artists), and in other creative spaces.

With the automation of intellectual labor and the trend towards a more leisurely society, humanity will monetize through creativity and curation, instead of labor.