Introduction
We're living in the most prosperous times humanity has ever known. Our world today is like a dream come true for our ancestors, and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) promises an even brighter future.
The optimist in me is thrilled: imagine having superintelligence at our fingertips, getting rid of repetitive tasks, and having so much more free time. But there's also a bit of fear.
Our brains are wired for a world of scarcity, yet we live in an age of abundance. Even though the world has changed, our brains haven't. We still have the instincts of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, optimized for survival a million years ago. This modern abundance has brought too much food, stimulation, and information—maybe more than our caveman brains can handle.
Humans need purpose, and our purposes usually come from solving problems. We're almost designed to be in a constant state of problem-solving. Now, imagine if there's no work left to do. I'm worried that with all this abundance, we'll just invent new problems to stress over. Kierkegaard said it well: as we make life easier, what's missing is the feeling of lack itself.
I still believe we should push technology forward. Any other option would mean the downfall of civilization. But as a society, we also need to be ready for the abundance that’s coming our way.