AI/ML is everywhere right now, especially in my industry. It is disrupting a lot of things and I am hearing “AI is going to steal your job” and “AI is going to replace your girlfriend”. I am not going to touch on the jobs right now as I have rambled on about that plenty of times but I do have a theory on the relationship aspect.

It’s true, AI is becoming more and more human-like and more capable and people are in many ways getting more isolated. Working from home is more popular than ever, and social media seems to be encouraging their users to interact with AI powered bots (At least Facebook).

Does this mean human to human interaction is doomed and we are all going to end up like the humans in the Pixar movie Wall-E? Possibly in the long run but what I am observing now is a barbell split of my daily interactions.

Let me explain: Let's go back to the typical office setting in the mid 90s. You had to interact with Joan from accounting, then Jim from HR, then Fred from IT. You would cross paths by the water cooler or swing by their office to ask them a question.

Now, more and more of those trivial interactions can be handled via AI/ML. I still do my own writing but I have moved to an LLM for a fair amount of my research. Not even professional research, information on some appliances I have to replace or planning business travel. And that is fine, those tasks don’t particularly add much fulfillment. I could pay an assistant to do it but AI is faster and cheaper.

So if I work from home and no longer need to message my assigned coworkers don’t I get lonely? Yes, if I wasn’t careful a several days could go by without me talking to a single human being. But this is where the magic is happening right now. Because I don’t have to wander around to Joan from the accounting office because AI handles all that. I can be very mindful about which humans I do interact with and furthermore I have the time to spend it with whom I want.

I think there are going to be people like me that really want to interact with people so much that we are willing to pay for it. For example I am part of several coaching / master mind groups. I am happy to pay extra to be able to jump on a call and see their smiling faces. We share real world dizzying highs and painful lows with each other. We are offer a shoulder to cry on when things are bad and a virtual or real world high five when we have a win.

Until AI/ML can walk around in these sweaty meat sacks we call bodies trying to make their way in this crazy physical world we live in it will be impossible for it to really fundamentally understand what we go through. Sure it can parrot the words of Henry David Thoreau but that is no replacement for actual human interaction.

This AI/ML shift is creating a new paradigm where you can actually be more intentional with who you interact with. Perhaps Joan from Accounting is a jerk. Perhaps Jim from HR has horrible BO. Perhaps the IT guy has a negative world outlook you don’t need projected on you every morning. You now have more time and resources to seek out the people you want to surround yourself with and interact with them.

If I had to make a prediction I would guess that there will be a huge rise in various communities around the world. Communities not limited by geography but by common passions and goals.

Here is an interesting thought paradigm: You might end up paying a bit extra to be in a bot free community. Yeah, it's a weird thing to think about. Paying extra for AI free products. Think of it like buying local or buying organic food. Or even better when you buy a hand made painting instead of the print made by a machine. You pay a little extra to get that human touch.

My prediction is that there will be a lot of products that are reminiscent of the quality and scale of Walmart or McDonalds that are consumed by the masses but a few of us are going to seek out human interaction with people that share our passions and will be happy to pay a little extra for it.

I am banking on this so much right now I am building a community of my own. A community that serves people like you. If you are reading this you are likely either in internet tech or entrepreneurship and where those two worlds overlap that is where I am planting my flag.

That is all I am going to say for now. If you are interested in joining that community please DM /Email me and let’s start a community together.