Irrelevance Comes For Us All
I gotta be honest with you. Deep down inside, I've been panicking. It seems like every day I keep seeing Instagram stories from experts, pundits, and bullsh*tters, declaring that AI is the only way forward or else you will become irrelevant.
One particular video by Sinéad Bovell analyzes the 2025 Future of Jobs Report from the World Economic Forum and provides a sobering statistic: "39% of our skills will need to transform or will become obsolete over the next five years."
It's hard not to apply words like obsolete and irrelevant to yourself when you've spent an entire career developing skills that are disrupted by emerging technology. Perhaps the biggest skill of all is learning to minimize the effects of fear-mongering and opening your mind to future possibilities.
I got curious about Bovell's mention of the statistic above, so I downloaded the report, which I encourage you to do as well. I wanted to see if there were specific skills mentioned that were in danger of becoming obsolete. Fortunately, the actual jobs report is written less like an influencer trying to scare the sh*t out of you and more like a scientist presenting the facts. It's still scary, but not in the manner of "there's a tiger hiding in the bushes ready to eat you if you make one mistake."
It's a large report, so I'll just cherry-pick one chart: Skills on the rise, 2025-2030. This chart represents the "share of employers that consider skills to be increasing, decreasing, or remaining stable in importance." Here is a screenshot of the chart:
Near the top of the list, as to be expected, are:
AI and big data (87)
Networks and cybersecurity (70)
Technological literacy (68)
Creative thinking (66)
Resilience, flexibility and agility (66)
Curiosity and lifelong learning (61)
I was surprised to see the following near the bottom of the list:
Sensory-processing abilities (13)
Dependability and attention to detail (12)
Reading, writing and mathematics (-4)
Manual dexterity, endurance and precision (-24)
It's hard to measure what will actually happen in five years. As fast as artificial and big data entered the picture, who knows what will unexpectedly reveal itself tomorrow. There's a reason that resilience, flexibility and agility are top skills.
As I sit and reflect on what this information means—as opposed to freaking the f*ck out—I find a sense of peace wash over me. Because no matter how hard we fight to stay relevant, irrelevancy comes for us all. It's on my doorstep, it's down the street from your company; it's all around us.
As a society, we declare old people (anyone between 30-100 years old, depending on who you ask) to be out of touch with technology and reality, so we write them off. We make lists that worship the youth, relegating genius only to those whose brains haven't fully developed. We use shame and fear to belittle those who want to make art or work that won't be stolen by tech companies. Mostly, any one who doesn't toe the party line, we cast them out, there's no time for people who won't pay our subscriptions and validate our business models of disruption.
So, why peace?
Because if irrelevancy has come for me, I am free to do whatever the f*ck I want to make a living and live my life. Sure, there's no guarantee what I do will result in money or impact. But even if I followed the above report to the letter, there would still be some unforeseen disruption to my progress.
When we apply macro trends to our micro lives, we are at the mercy of forces that are beyond our control. By accepting irrelevancy, we take ownership of our lives. One idea at a time.
Newsletter Notes:
Today's sonic soundtrack is Elements (Deluxe) by Ludovico Einaudi.
I used Midjourney to generate the image in the graphic above with the following prompt: irrelevance crumbling concrete statue abstract sculpture surrealism monochromatic --ar 16:9.
I used Manometer Serif by Arne Freytag and FG Bethany by Bethany Schlegel Shawfor for the UYFV logo in the graphic above. Additional typefaces include Travelers Gothic by Mahaffey Design Co. and Headline Gothic ATF by American Type Founders Collection.
