Re-valuing Human Purpose in an Age of AI – A Reflection

I spent a portion of my career working in learning—just enough to develop a deep appreciation for how we grow, adapt, and make sense of change. So when conversations about AI started shifting from curiosity to anxiety, I found myself reflecting on something more fundamental than tools or trends: the question of what this technology is really asking of us.

In some industries—like advertising, where storytelling meets data—AI is already reshaping how work is done. In others, it’s simply a matter of time. And while it’s tempting to focus on what might be lost, I find it more useful to ask what might be revealed—about the kind of work only humans can do, and the kind of world we want to shape.

History offers us a quiet kind of reassurance.

Re-education, though often positioned as a crisis response, has always been part of how we move forward. After the Industrial Revolution, formal schooling gave structure to a new kind of workforce. After WWII, the GI Bill opened doors for millions to reinvent their paths. And in the face of the digital revolution, many of us became lifelong learners almost without noticing.

Change has never been painless—but it has always been possible. And certain patterns have shown up again and again: access to education, coupled with motivation and institutional support, often leads to transformation. Re-education thrives most when it’s proactive, inclusive, and purpose-driven—when it meets people where they are, and invites them to step into who they might become.

I see two broad approaches emerging: one views AI as a tool to make humans more efficient—the techno-solutionist view—while the humanist view sees AI as a prompt to return to what makes us human in the first place. Both have merit as approaches to re-education. I believe that work, at its best, should be a reflection of purpose—not just productivity.

Some thinkers have helped me make sense of this. Sebastian Thrun talks about AI as a liberator from repetitive tasks, freeing us to focus on imagination and meaning. Yuval Noah Harari reminds us that in a world of constant change, emotional resilience and flexibility matter more than memorised facts. These perspectives are less about the tech, and more about the terrain it reshapes.

For individuals, especially those in roles being overtaken by automation, the path forward can feel uncertain. But reinvention isn’t about pretending to be someone new—it’s about reconnecting with what you’ve always been good at. That might mean surfacing strengths that have gone unnamed—like the ability to bring clarity to complexity. It might mean translating those into new contexts, and reawakening a sense of curiosity about how your abilities might take on new meaning. It also means reframing AI not as a replacement, but as a partner—one that can help amplify the value you already bring, an enabler. Taking advantage of what makes us uniquely human becomes the foundation of reinvention, not the obstacle.

What excites me—quietly, cautiously—is the idea that we now have a chance to re-value not just work, but life. If AI can do more of the mechanical, perhaps we can do more of the meaningful. The challenge is not just to retrain for new tasks, but to redefine what we see as valuable work—to reconsider purpose in a world where intelligence is no longer uniquely ours. Spend more time caring for one another, creating beauty, restoring what has been neglected.

Of course, I would expect limits. Even with the best re-skilling efforts, we will likely face an imbalance: too many people, not enough jobs. That’s where ideas like shorter work weeks or service based UBI come into play—not as utopian fixes, but as practical responses to a shifting equation. They invite us to imagine a world where value isn’t only measured in output, but in care, connection, and contribution.

I don’t have answers—only observations and a quiet hope that we take this moment not just to upgrade our skills, but to reflect on our direction. That we treat re-education not as a demand, but as an opportunity. And that in doing so, we learn not just how to work with machines—but how to be more fully human, too.

Thank you for reading. Credit to my soundboard ChatGPT4.o.

I welcome your reflections.

References: Sebastian Thrun (former Google X leader, co‑founder of Udacity) is interviewed by Chris Anderson; WEF Reskilling Revolution; Yuval Noah Harari: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century