Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, it’s the first thing I sense. A massive, ever-growing fear in the hearts of people everywhere regarding the advance of technology (especially AI) and its impact. Not just, “will I lose my job?” – but even more deeply:
“The rate at which we’re being told to forego human connection keeps accelerating – what does this mean?”
“What if the things I’m deeply proud of – my decision-making, creativity, problem-solving, leadership skills – are no longer valued?”
“What kind of working world are my kids entering into? – how will they find their place and make a living for themselves?”
These are just some of the rarely-voiced but existentially relevant questions that lurk in (what Carl Jung called) our “collective unconscious” – as workers, as leaders, as parents, as people trying to live our best lives.
Four Ways to Navigate AI Anxiety
I want to share some thoughts on how to handle this quiet, heavy dread that many carry – a dread that isn’t foreign even to those at the helm of advancing the AI revolution.
#1 Face it. When anxieties remain unacknowledged and unprocessed, they carry an inordinate power to unmoor us. Name out loud your specific worries and emotions, even if it’s just to your journal (or your AI agent of choice!) Powerless, numb, reactive, doubtful, terrified, isolated, resigned – these are common feelings. Start with naming them and letting them be there. Even better if you can voice them to another person you trust. And remember: You can be a fully, beautifully functional person while you let uncomfortable emotions just be there. It’s when you deny them your acknowledgement that things become unmanageable.
#2 Accept it. SO MUCH is beyond our control, here. No one person – certainly not you or I – can solve/fix the technological and economic uncertainties that define our era. And it is, without question, a new era – we’re in it, baby! Choosing to stay stuck inside futile, unanswerable questions and fears is going to help exactly no one – certainly not you. The cost of not accepting reality is that it will likely (ironically) erode the very things you’re worried about losing: connection, creativity, clarity, agency, peace, hope, and “your edge.” Radical acceptance is a crucial tool for regaining your emotional footing and reclaiming your personal power.
#3 Get curious about it. When we consciously let go of the things that aren’t ours to carry or solve, we decrease what psychologists call our “cognitive load.” This frees up (prefrontal cortical) energy to see what’s important and explore what’s possible.
Here are some of the exploratory questions my brilliant colleague Jasenka Šabanović, Founder of SynerQ, encourages top leaders to ask as they move through radical acceptance of AI-related change, towards a more empowered and committed place of working and leading:
-What are you great at doing right now, and how can you do it even better?
-In the future (perhaps 6 months or a year from now), what solutions or innovations do you want to be known for bringing forward?
-What does success look like, and what’s one small step you can take to get closer to it?
-What do you need to do more of (and less of) now that you’re a bit clearer on the future you want to help shape – both for yourself and others?
These are questions only you can answer. AI may or may not factor into your answers, but first, just play with the questions. Explore without pressure, with the lightness of a child on a brand-new playground, and see what opens for you.
#4 Humanize it. Despite the circus we observe daily in the news cycle, it’s my firm belief that being a good human is always going to be exceedingly valuable. I’m talking things like:
- Staying tethered to our values
- Cultivating a calm presence
- Bringing life (rather than draining life) in each of our interactions
- Owning our mistakes and cleaning up our messes
- Bringing joy and levity
- Nurturing trust by doing what we say we’re going to do
- Teaching others (by our own example) how to weather difficulty
- Responding with hopeful agility to new problems
- Exercising our creativity and judgment muscles so they don’t atrophy in the shadow of Claude’s blinking three dots
- Showing compassion amid suffering (whether our own, or others)
- Reading a freaking book instead of mindless scrolling!
Such things are perennially precious. These human qualities are 100% in your control and will only become more crucial in an increasingly disembodied and automated world. Lean into them – hard – and encourage your children to, as well.
The One Thing AI Cannot Replace
My friend, the world is changing faster than any of us bargained for, and it’s okay to feel the enormity of that. You don’t have to have it figured out. You don’t have to be unafraid. You just have to stay human. And as it turns out, that’s the one thing no algorithm can do for you.
The qualities that make you irreplaceable aren’t stored in a data center somewhere. They live in the way you show up for the people around you, in the care you bring to hard conversations, in the wisdom you’ve earned through every difficult season you’ve already navigated. None of that is going anywhere.
So take a breath. Name what you’re feeling. Accept what you cannot change. Get curious about what’s possible. And above all, stay gloriously, stubbornly, beautifully human.
I’m rooting for you always!
