#46 Don't be afraid of AI

As of May 2025, ChatGPT has nearly 800 million weekly active users and over 122 million daily users. Even more striking: an estimated 71 percent of social-media images are now AI-generated. It’s undeniable: AI is already woven into your morning scroll, your shopping habits, your playlists, your navigation system - and it’s here to stay. AI is changing the world. And it will change us as a society.

Yet, don’t be afraid of AI - here’s why.

Disruption Is Stimulation to Adaptation

Every groundbreaking technology brings with it a sense of uncertainty. But uncertainty isn’t necessarily a threat — it’s simply a signal that change is underway.

Darwin’s theory of evolution is often misquoted as “survival of the fittest,” but his real insight was that the species most likely to survive are not the strongest or the smartest, but those most capable of adapting to their environment.

What does this mean for the age of AI?

Power Shifts

Disruptive innovations bring power shifts.

Gutenberg’s printing press gave ordinary people access to knowledge. Suddenly, the ability to read wasn’t reserved for clerics. It changed everything.

The internet blew open the gates to information. Free, global, 24/7. It empowered anyone with a connection to learn and build. What used to be locked behind institutions became accessible to all.

And now?

AI empowers individuals to create digital assets in minutes. It allows a single person to start a business, build a website, write code, edit a video, launch a product - without needing years of study or expensive teams.

Technology gives power. But if we’re not careful, it also takes it away.

The Power We Lose

We can’t avoid technological innovation anymore. Everyone will adapt - because we must.

But the real question is: How will you adapt?

Let’s look at modern life in developed societies through the lens of power loss:

The Efficiency Trap

We are deep in the cult of optimisation. Order dinner in the Uber ride. Clear emails during the meal. Read the ebook on the treadmill. Stretch with a podcast in your ears.

Everything in the spirit of “getting the most out of it” to save time for later - and yet we’re always rushing, always behind, and never have time for the things we actually want to do. 

The efficiency trap robs you of the power of time.

The Uber ride is your time to daydream.

Dinner is your moment to nourish your body - and your relationship.

Reading is a portal to a new world.

Physical movement connects you to yourself.

If you live life like a checklist, you’ll miss the magic in between.

Take back your power from technology. Take back your time.

The Comfort Trap

Comfort is the logical next step after over-efficiency. You did so much - don’t you deserve some ease?

But every time we choose comfort, we take a step away from growth.

The comfort trap steals the feeling of accomplishment.

It’s incredibly hard and uncomfortable to sit myself down for hours and write this (and yes, this takes me many hours). It would be so much easier to let ChatGPT write it for me. But it wouldn’t be me. It wouldn’t be my voice. I wouldn’t feel like having achieved something.

It’s the same with surfing. Like so many others (mainly girls), I could pay someone to push me into waves - less paddling, less struggle, more rides. But it’s not the same. You won’t really learn.

And that leads us to the greatest danger of all.

The Dependency Trap

If you optimise your life to maximum comfort, your unique skills will fade.

Slowly. Subtly. They’ll disappear because they’re not needed anymore.

If you can’t walk long distances, you depend on where the self-driving car will take you.

If you can’t do basic consumer math, you depend on someone else for your financial decisions.

If you’ve never trained your critical thinking, you’ll follow others blindly.

If you only talk through screens, you’ll forget how to connect in real life.

In a world where AI drives you, shops for you, thinks for you, and even messages your partner for you - you’ll have everything but human connections.

The dependency trap robs you of your humanity.

Don’t Be Afraid of AI

AI is already here. There’s no point in denying or fighting it.

So now the question becomes: How do you want to adapt?

How much power will you hand over—and how much will you keep?

We are still at a stage where we can choose.

If you love the digital world, if you thrive on creation and speed, this is your moment. Never before in human history could one person build something so big, so fast, with so little.

But if you value presence, connection, and being in the world, then don't fall for the AI trap.

Be aware. Be intentional.

Choose imperfection over efficiency - because you’re choosing humanity.

Choose discomfort over comfort - because that’s how we grow.

And choose the person in front of you over the little blue screen - because that’s how we truly love.