Unsurprisingly I related to every single word of this, and have been talking about this exact topic with friends constantly. I've been very preoccupied by this as well: "I’m allowing myself to imagine the possibility that it may be time for my work to evolve along with my life, and perhaps to become something more offline, embodied and relational."
I retired on 1/1/2026, but, being a guy, grieving anything wasn't in my wheelhouse. Almost three months into retirement, I am slowly realizing how important this first step is becoming. I thought I had a "plan", just like everything else in my life prior to the actual retirement date. To my surprise, the emotional aspect of this change has knocked me off my feet. This article, while not directly addressing "retirement" per se, really resonated with me this morning. Thank you for this content; it has helped to validate how I have been feeling for the past three months. (and quite possibly a bit longer, I suspect)
Beginning around the mid ‘90s the internet began to have a similar impact. Hundreds of small businesses went out of business in the industry in which I began my career, and thousands of people either lost their jobs or were otherwise negatively impacted. In the end, the disrupters themselves were disrupted as technology continued to evolve, and the financial markets followed.
You adapted, adjusted, took a step or two or three back, or in some cases totally reinvented yourself. In mid-career. I know of that which I speak. It’s not fun when you’re going through it, but hard as it is to believe at the time, other doors will open. And, as Steve Jobs so famously said, you can only connect the dots looking back.
It can be almost paralyzing to contemplate the myriad changes and challenges of this time - seemingly all structures seem to be collapsing. I agree that we need to acknowledge our grief through all of it, and then get to work imagining and bringing into being a better, more hopeful world.
Beautiful contemplations on the grieving that courses through us during massive change, whether we know it or not. I'd like to push back a bit on this statement though: "work is the primary structure through which we’ve been taught to find meaning" and the word 'taught' in particular. I think it is deeper than the culture or our parents and peers - I think the pressures they put upon us are a reflection of a truth in human nature.
We need to be engaged in something larger than ourselves, to contribute, to be in a positive feedback loop, to meet our needs for food and shelter through activity and reward. To feel existentially adrift without work makes perfect sense in human evolution -- we haven't been taught by culture/parents/peers to find identity and meaning in work, I think it's a biological imperative. The grief and dread in our nervous system is a signal that something is amiss and our very physical security is at risk.
Sigh. I'm joining nonprofit boards currently to stay busy, build community, and be in a positive feedback loop of contribution - exactly the type of hopeful rebuilding and re-engagement this essay is rooting for : )
I agree with what you're saying, Eaddy, but I think the problem is that we're looking for meaning and identity in our careers and job titles as a way of achieving culturally-defined ideas of success. With all that is unraveling, I hope that can shift to engaging with work as meaningful activity and contribution.
As a “laborer” all my life (70 yrs) and eventual higher education (minister). I’ve always dreamed of the social change back to “village” inclusion for communal beautiful life. The massive amount of society sustained by the monopoly government culture will also end with A.I. As human history records a terrible really unthinkable inhuman survival could occur. Hopefully not. Eventually that fore mentioned dream to be reality. 🙏
This is a VERY GOOD PIECE. As someone who managed to work in NYC as an editor, both in content marketing and in "real" magazines (edited 2, and a website, for Time Inc before it dissolved like slime mold), I can imagine that being in the middle of this is extraordinarily stressful. I'd offer a few things. First, the problem with AI and marketing/PR writing is that most marketing writing has been slop all along, and although the stuff I did 25 years ago was rooted in journalism, the fact is, most companies buying "content" don't care. (I think this is also a problem in consulting, because most of what consulting companies produced was expensive slop.) Also, AI is remarkably good at consolidating the sort of information that "service journalism" used to be based on, except of course real reporting about real humans solving real problems. That said, my daily interactions with LLMs suggest that they are limited to brainy mimicry, and will for the near future at least require the guidance of real human editors to generate anything good, anything with nuance and dimension. I think there will be big opportunities for experienced writers and editors to perform that guidance function, much as senior editors did for junior editors in the pre-AI world. Convincing companies they need such people may be difficult, until the robots hallucinate companies into legal liabilities. I wrote a bit AI and work here:
Oh, yes! I've had jobs disappear out from under me a couple of times, and that process has led to deep depression and self-doubt. Having crawled out of the hole both times, though, I've learned how important it is to expand my sense of self beyond my job title. It was never easy, and preparing for retirement is bringing it back to the surface, but it is something that can be learned.
Regarding AI specifically, I left higher ed just as students were finding ChatGPT and faculty were tempted to let AI do their grading for them...! I breathe a sigh of relief whenever I think of it - some of my colleagues were actively encouraging faculty to incorporate AI into their class plans. I think of teaching and learning as deeply human endeavors (much like writing, which I'm doing more now) and simply cannot imagine outsourcing the work of education to bots!
AI is going to be much more disruptive than any other employment transition humans have had to transverse. This transition will have AI replace a large percentage of our professional workforce. Bankers, lawyers, accountants, software developers etc. Just about every knowledge worker is at risk. These are high earners who spent a lifetime gaining their professional knowledge that will be taught to an LLM app to do the same job at a fraction of the cost. This transition will start slow but then accelerate quickly. The current LLM's are just evolving but every six months they become smarter, faster and cheaper. Unfortunately, as a capitalist society companies are only beholden to shareholders, not workers. So, as the number of workers replaced increases, it must be government that deals with the fallout. Also, unfortunately, we have a dysfunctional divided government that can not even solve the simplest problems we face. Interestingly, China has already started mapping out a plan on how to deal the AI disruption. They want the current knowledge workers to continue working but have their output enhanced by AI to the betterment of society. They are also steering AI development to helping their rural poor by developing AI teachers, AI doctors, AI career advisers, etc. to elevate their large population of rural poor. I fear that the race between the East and the West to develop AI will not be won by who has the smartest LLMs but the society who puts it to productive use elevating society rather than just the increase in profits. I truly hope that the west decides that using AI for the betterment of all of society is certainly its best use.
Unsurprisingly I related to every single word of this, and have been talking about this exact topic with friends constantly. I've been very preoccupied by this as well: "I’m allowing myself to imagine the possibility that it may be time for my work to evolve along with my life, and perhaps to become something more offline, embodied and relational."
yes—let's explore these new possibilities together :)
Yes let’s! We’re due for a catch up soon anyway :)
I retired on 1/1/2026, but, being a guy, grieving anything wasn't in my wheelhouse. Almost three months into retirement, I am slowly realizing how important this first step is becoming. I thought I had a "plan", just like everything else in my life prior to the actual retirement date. To my surprise, the emotional aspect of this change has knocked me off my feet. This article, while not directly addressing "retirement" per se, really resonated with me this morning. Thank you for this content; it has helped to validate how I have been feeling for the past three months. (and quite possibly a bit longer, I suspect)
AI will never replace those of us who get our hands dirty every day.
Beginning around the mid ‘90s the internet began to have a similar impact. Hundreds of small businesses went out of business in the industry in which I began my career, and thousands of people either lost their jobs or were otherwise negatively impacted. In the end, the disrupters themselves were disrupted as technology continued to evolve, and the financial markets followed.
You adapted, adjusted, took a step or two or three back, or in some cases totally reinvented yourself. In mid-career. I know of that which I speak. It’s not fun when you’re going through it, but hard as it is to believe at the time, other doors will open. And, as Steve Jobs so famously said, you can only connect the dots looking back.
It can be almost paralyzing to contemplate the myriad changes and challenges of this time - seemingly all structures seem to be collapsing. I agree that we need to acknowledge our grief through all of it, and then get to work imagining and bringing into being a better, more hopeful world.
Beautiful contemplations on the grieving that courses through us during massive change, whether we know it or not. I'd like to push back a bit on this statement though: "work is the primary structure through which we’ve been taught to find meaning" and the word 'taught' in particular. I think it is deeper than the culture or our parents and peers - I think the pressures they put upon us are a reflection of a truth in human nature.
We need to be engaged in something larger than ourselves, to contribute, to be in a positive feedback loop, to meet our needs for food and shelter through activity and reward. To feel existentially adrift without work makes perfect sense in human evolution -- we haven't been taught by culture/parents/peers to find identity and meaning in work, I think it's a biological imperative. The grief and dread in our nervous system is a signal that something is amiss and our very physical security is at risk.
Sigh. I'm joining nonprofit boards currently to stay busy, build community, and be in a positive feedback loop of contribution - exactly the type of hopeful rebuilding and re-engagement this essay is rooting for : )
I agree with what you're saying, Eaddy, but I think the problem is that we're looking for meaning and identity in our careers and job titles as a way of achieving culturally-defined ideas of success. With all that is unraveling, I hope that can shift to engaging with work as meaningful activity and contribution.
As a “laborer” all my life (70 yrs) and eventual higher education (minister). I’ve always dreamed of the social change back to “village” inclusion for communal beautiful life. The massive amount of society sustained by the monopoly government culture will also end with A.I. As human history records a terrible really unthinkable inhuman survival could occur. Hopefully not. Eventually that fore mentioned dream to be reality. 🙏
This is a VERY GOOD PIECE. As someone who managed to work in NYC as an editor, both in content marketing and in "real" magazines (edited 2, and a website, for Time Inc before it dissolved like slime mold), I can imagine that being in the middle of this is extraordinarily stressful. I'd offer a few things. First, the problem with AI and marketing/PR writing is that most marketing writing has been slop all along, and although the stuff I did 25 years ago was rooted in journalism, the fact is, most companies buying "content" don't care. (I think this is also a problem in consulting, because most of what consulting companies produced was expensive slop.) Also, AI is remarkably good at consolidating the sort of information that "service journalism" used to be based on, except of course real reporting about real humans solving real problems. That said, my daily interactions with LLMs suggest that they are limited to brainy mimicry, and will for the near future at least require the guidance of real human editors to generate anything good, anything with nuance and dimension. I think there will be big opportunities for experienced writers and editors to perform that guidance function, much as senior editors did for junior editors in the pre-AI world. Convincing companies they need such people may be difficult, until the robots hallucinate companies into legal liabilities. I wrote a bit AI and work here:
https://scottmowbray.substack.com/p/five-big-things-about-ai-that-seem?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Oh, yes! I've had jobs disappear out from under me a couple of times, and that process has led to deep depression and self-doubt. Having crawled out of the hole both times, though, I've learned how important it is to expand my sense of self beyond my job title. It was never easy, and preparing for retirement is bringing it back to the surface, but it is something that can be learned.
Regarding AI specifically, I left higher ed just as students were finding ChatGPT and faculty were tempted to let AI do their grading for them...! I breathe a sigh of relief whenever I think of it - some of my colleagues were actively encouraging faculty to incorporate AI into their class plans. I think of teaching and learning as deeply human endeavors (much like writing, which I'm doing more now) and simply cannot imagine outsourcing the work of education to bots!
Carolyn, thank you for perfectly capturing this moment.
This is a beautiful piece - taking the time to grieve identity shifts is too often ignored. And like you say, it's essential to moving forward.
After 8 years I had to give up my career as a paramedic due to irreversible injury and not AI. It was definitely a grief reaction.
AI is going to be much more disruptive than any other employment transition humans have had to transverse. This transition will have AI replace a large percentage of our professional workforce. Bankers, lawyers, accountants, software developers etc. Just about every knowledge worker is at risk. These are high earners who spent a lifetime gaining their professional knowledge that will be taught to an LLM app to do the same job at a fraction of the cost. This transition will start slow but then accelerate quickly. The current LLM's are just evolving but every six months they become smarter, faster and cheaper. Unfortunately, as a capitalist society companies are only beholden to shareholders, not workers. So, as the number of workers replaced increases, it must be government that deals with the fallout. Also, unfortunately, we have a dysfunctional divided government that can not even solve the simplest problems we face. Interestingly, China has already started mapping out a plan on how to deal the AI disruption. They want the current knowledge workers to continue working but have their output enhanced by AI to the betterment of society. They are also steering AI development to helping their rural poor by developing AI teachers, AI doctors, AI career advisers, etc. to elevate their large population of rural poor. I fear that the race between the East and the West to develop AI will not be won by who has the smartest LLMs but the society who puts it to productive use elevating society rather than just the increase in profits. I truly hope that the west decides that using AI for the betterment of all of society is certainly its best use.