09/15/2026
The Luddites were right!
The weavers never got the delivery jobs.
Human history has been a series of innovations that have changed the job landscape and society itself. Indeed, wonderful in many respects to have technology that improves the quality of our lives. However, there has always been one trap and that is the gap.
The gap
When the loom was invented, the new textile industry arrived. Highly skilled weavers were left to compete with machines that could produce textiles quicker and more cheaply. Then new jobs were created! With textiles being available cheaper and en masse, we had delivery jobs and sales jobs created to name but two. The next generation got to reap the rewards of the new jobs and that is truly a good outcome.
However, the highly skilled weavers were left hungry and without work as the economy changed around them and that is the gap in the innovation pattern we have seen repeated again and again.
I'm not afraid of innovation. I am an early adopter and I love technology. I'm asking us to be thoughtful about what innovation does.
So, now we have the development of AI or rather at this point LLMs. People are losing their jobs; new jobs will be created around the new evolution and land in the laps of the next generations. Jobs we haven’t even imagined yet. Again, that is wonderful. My question is: for the people laid off now who don’t get rehired, how do we fill that gap? That gap that has always been there throughout history with every new industrial, medical and technological advance.
Now, I own and run an agency, and I use LLMs for many different tasks. It is helping my small business grow and some of what I sell is what AI is coming for. Both things are true at once.
The pattern we get wrong
We assume that every advancement means total replacement, but history has shown that it doesn’t.
Electricity did not herald the end of the candle. What changed was the candle’s job. Instead of providing light, the industry evolved over years, after the arrival of electricity. Now a candle is used to create atmosphere in a room and sometimes a scent. The market for candles is now larger than it was when it was used for light, before electricity.
The candlemakers of 1890 did not become scented candle manufacturers. That took much longer and different generations accomplished it. The market evolved. The makers did not get to evolve with it.
Now with AI we see the same pattern. Let’s look at the example of Klarna. It’s AI assistant performed the work of 700 customer service agents. But later on, Klarna bought human customer service agents back on board. Not because the AI failed outright, but because the routine volume and the difficult conversation turned out to be two different products. This because handling a routine customer service enquiry and handling a complex conversation are not the same job.
I have friends and peers who have been laid off recently. These are people at the peak of their intellect and experience. Sometimes it’s because of automation and sometimes because they are being replaced by a younger, less experienced person who costs less with AI cited as the reason. Often, I find it hard to tell which is the case and I suspect the person making the decision isn’t entirely sure either.
I have no policy answer. What I have is one decision I can make myself.
When the time comes to hire an editor or writer for my agency, I will still hire a human for a significant amount of copywriting.
I will continue to use AI for a multitude of tasks and enjoy and benefit from it. AI is now a part of my everyday workflow. But an algorithm doesn't have quirks, witticisms, or the unexpected wordplay that makes people laugh, including me. A prompt cannot replace the unique, distinct voice that makes someone want to read a story. A human who knows me and writes my bio, knows how to write for me.
Maybe a machine gets there eventually, but for this, I would rather pay a person.
My question for founders and leaders today:
How do we protect the human craft that builds a brand, while navigating the pressure and delight in automating it?
How do you plan to fill that gap in your own business?
