🔜 Coming Soon: The Next 18 Months
An ebook to help you navigate the very near future.
Andrew Yeung styles himself the ‘Gatsby of Silicon Valley.’ He’s known for hosting invite-only happy hours and throwing lavish parties for tech founders across the country.
If anyone has a pulse on how Gen Z is doing it’s this guy.
I saw this post of his on LinkedIn this morning and I think it captures the current zeitgeist well:
Two years ago, a student fresh out of college could’ve gotten any of the jobs Andrew Yeung referenced in this post. Today, those jobs are pretty much obsolete.
I’ve been writing about technological job disruptions for the last three years now. I’ve written more than a half a million words on the topic and have published hundreds of essays.
I personally think we’re at the end of the third quarter. AI agents are here but they haven’t started fully displacing humans just yet.
I think that is going to change in the next 18 months.
2027 seems to be the year when sh*t is going to hit the fan. Both independent researchers and tech CEOs acknowledge the rapid pace of AI development and are warning about the impact this will have on workers.
Job displacement is already underway but will likely reach an apex around 2027 once agents reach maturity. By 2030, life as we know it will be radically different from what it is today.
While this might seem like a hyperbolic pronouncement of the future it’s not if you think about how fast technology has already been progressing.
Twelve years ago, I had a Blackberry. I could use it to read emails and surf the web, but it didn’t have any apps and I couldn’t use it to navigate traffic. Today, almost everyone on the planet has a mini-computer in their hands at all times.
Ten years ago, I was paid to monitor Arabic social media channels and write reports about the situation in Syria. Today, you can program algorithms to generate multi-platform feeds, compile all the data in one place, translate it, and with the help of AI, write an analysis of of it.
Seven years ago, I asked my supervisor if I could telework on Fridays. She said no, even though it was permitted in the contract and I had all the tools I needed to work from home. Today, remote jobs are not only normal but highly sought after.
Two years ago, most people searched for information using Google. Today, they use ChatGPT.
With all the change that has happened in the last decade, it’s not inconceivable that life will radically change over the next 18 months. A big part of this change will be the loss of jobs.
I’ve written a lot on this topic, but it isn’t consolidated in one place. That’s why…
🚨I’m releasing an ebook!
The ebook will dive into what’s in store for workers over the next 18 months.
It’s clear AI is going to continue being integrated into the workplace. Most workers think it’s going to take their jobs outright, but I don’t think that’s the full story.
I think the entire value proposition of employing human cognitive labor has been turned on its head.
Human employment isn’t palatable for employers anymore. It’s not that AI can do your job, it’s that your employer no longer wants you.
Even if you’re really good at your job, employers aren’t in the game of employing you. They’re in the game of generating profit.
Knowledge workers used to provide profit-generating value to their employers. Now we’re all just overhead. We demand promotions, take sick leave, and spend more time gossiping on company Slack channels than doing real work.
AI isn’t better than you but it’s good enough. And that’s all that matters to cost-cutting CEOs.
Leaner workforces, cheaper human labor, and the adoption of AI are all levers employers can pull to increase their profitability. That’s the game moving forward.
How can companies boost profits while minimizing overhead?
This is fundamentally changing the nature of work and the advancement of AI is giving employers an alternative cognitive workforce that makes the cost cutting they seek possible.
The working title for the ebook is The Next 18 Months and it will be broken down into three sections:
Why You’ll Lose Your Job
Who Will Be Most Affected
What You Should Do to Prepare
Unlike previous transition periods — like the Industrial Revolution — the AI revolution is going to come faster and harder than most people — or businesses — realize. A lot of people don’t have a plan. That’s why tech CEOs and AI experts are doing a public speaking tour to increase awareness for what’s to come.
While I can’t predict the future, I do think there are observable trends that are emerging. For example, entry-level workers will be more at risk than other workers because entry-level work is training work that is used to teach new employees. It’s routine work — like compiling data in spreadsheets — that can easily be automated or taught to an AI agent.
Using Gen Z as a proxy for entry-level work, I think 20 somethings will be most affected by AI. They will have no practical skills or experience, a large amount of college debt, and no financial cushion to fall back on.
While this group of workers is digitally native and has the most potential to capitalize on AI adoption, if they continue going to college, applying to non-existent jobs, and living in high cost of living cities like New York, they’re going to be able to.
The ebook is a framework to help you evaluate your personal risk exposure and develop a practical action plan for what’s to come over the next 18 months.
👉 Here’s what you can expect
I’ve already created a rough outline for the ebook (more on that in a minute). I’ll be compiling and editing essays I’ve already written and publishing new essays related to topics I haven’t written on yet.
Here’s what you can expect from this ebook.
If you’re a free subscriber…
I’ll be sharing periodic updates on the ebook with you. I’ll let you know when major sections have been written and give you updates on how you can grab a copy.
If you’re a paid subscriber…
I’ll be serializing the ebook for you to read as I go. You’ll get regular updates and I’ll send you new essays once they’re written.
The whole project will be managed in Notion where you’ll have the opportunity to add comments as sections of the ebook come together. I would love any input you’d be willing to share on it. (And if you are willing to provide input, I’ll be sure to acknowledge your contribution in the final version of the ebook).
For all subscribers…
I’ll be planning on releasing the ebook sometime in August. But right now I’d like to gauge your interest in reading an ebook about what’s in store for knowledge workers over the next 18 months.
If you would be interested in reading an advanced copy of the ebook, click the button below. Even if you’re already subscribed to Tomorrow Today, adding your name to the list let’s me know you’re interested.
✒️ The working outline
As I mentioned above, I have a working outline of the ebook. Here’s what I’ve put together so far: