The Rules Are Changing

This fall, my son heads off to college. Like many students his age, he’s excited, hopeful, and full of ideas about what his future could look like. He’s drawn to tech, business, finance, and the idea of building something that matters. As a parent, that ambition inspires me. But it also brings with it a sobering awareness.

The rules of the career game are changing, rapidly and without precedent.

Much of what guided our generation: study hard, pick a stable field, climb the ladder, no longer maps cleanly onto the world our kids are stepping into. The pace of change, driven largely by artificial intelligence, is not theoretical. It’s not five years out.

It’s already here:

 

And if we’re being honest, it isn’t just our kids who need to prepare. Those of us already deep into our careers are facing the same shift, often without a roadmap. The good news is this: while AI is rewriting the rules, it is also expanding the playing field. There are risks, yes, but also enormous opportunities for those willing to learn, adapt, and think differently.

The Shift Is Real, and It’s Accelerating

We’re entering a phase of work transformation that rivals the Industrial Revolution in scope, but is happening at exponential speed.

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs Report, 44% of workers’ core skills will change within the next four years. By 2030, that number rises to over 70% in some industries, as AI augments or replaces tasks that were once considered safely “human.”

These are not fringe projections.

They are already showing up in the labor market.

Consider a 2023 study by Princeton, UPenn, and OpenAI which analyzed over 800 occupations and mapped their exposure to large language models like GPT-4.

Among the most affected roles:
• Writers, journalists, and content creators
• Interpreters and translators
• Legal assistants and paralegals
• Accountants and financial analysts
• Customer service agents
• Market researchers and surveyors

Even programming, once seen as future-proof, now shares space with AI agents that can write and debug code autonomously.

The nuance here is key: AI doesn’t necessarily eliminate entire jobs. It changes tasks. It alters workflows. It requires fewer humans to do the same thing, or allows one person to do what used to take five.

That shift means individuals must focus less on defending a static job title, and more on cultivating a dynamic, hybrid skill set that remains relevant as the tools evolve.

What This Means for My Kids and Yours

My daughter is entering high school this year. By the time she graduates in four years, the global job market will look profoundly different.

Today, high schoolers are taught algebra, composition, and history. Important, yes.

But how many are learning how to think critically about human-AI collaboration?

Or how to use tools like ChatGPT to accelerate their research, organize their ideas, or iterate on a business concept not just help them “get the gist” of what Marcus Aurelius wrote in The Meditations?

We’ve long said, “Teach kids how to think, not what to think.”

But now, that also includes teaching them how to think with AI. That subtle distinction may be the most important career preparation they receive.

In our household, we talk less about what job my kids want to have, and more about what problems they want to solve, and what skills will let them stay adaptive in solving them.

I tell my son: “Follow your passion, yes, but build a toolkit that keeps your options open.” Creative thinking, analytical rigor, digital and AI fluency, these are becoming foundational, not optional.

Perhaps “Follow where AI intersects your passion” is more appropriate?

And I encourage my daughter to lean into ambiguity. To become comfortable learning new systems quickly, even if they don’t come with grades or clear instructions.

That type of self-guided learning is going to be the differentiator in a world where knowledge becomes cheap but discernment becomes priceless.

The Myth of the Safe Path

For adults, the implications are equally profound. Many of us grew up believing that certain professions offered security: medicine, law, finance, education, IT. We associated stability with certification and tenure.

But AI doesn’t care about the narrative we grew up with. It moves where the data lives, and where language and logic tasks can be optimized.

That doesn’t mean we all need to abandon our professions. But it does mean we have to stop assuming they will remain untouched.

• A lawyer who understands how to use AI to draft contracts more efficiently will outperform one who doesn’t.
• A therapist who uses AI to streamline note-taking and administrative work will serve more clients with less burnout.
• A teacher who integrates generative tools into the learning process will prepare students far better than one who resists the shift.

The future belongs to the adaptive.

Not the early adopters necessarily, but the intentional learners; those who see AI as a co-pilot, not a competitor.

From Stability to Strategic Agility

We need to reframe what a good career looks like. It’s no longer about linear progression or title accumulation. It’s about agility, your ability to pivot, absorb new knowledge, and apply it meaningfully in whatever role you occupy.

So what does that look like in practical terms?

Learn how AI tools work, even at a surface level.

You don’t need to understand the architecture of a neural network. But you do need to understand what these tools can do in your field, and how to interface with them productively.

Audit your current skill stack.

Which of your daily tasks are repeatable, language-driven, or pattern-based? Those are likely to be automated. Focus on the parts that require judgment, synthesis, and context.

Develop a second brain.

The professionals who thrive in the next decade will use AI not as a shortcut, but as a strategic ally offloading cognitive load, accelerating ideation, and enhancing productivity without burning out.

Stay grounded in reality.

The hype around AI is loud. But underneath it are real, measurable shifts. Pay attention to those. You don’t need to master every tool. But you do need to identify which levers matter most in your domain and begin using them with purpose.

A Message of Measured Optimism

It would be easy to frame all of this as a crisis.

But that misses the bigger picture. Every technological leap brings disruption.

But it also brings expansion of tools, of possibilities, of leverage. The printing press. The internet. The smartphone.

All of them displaced some, empowered others, and ultimately redefined how we work and create value.

AI is no different.

The key is not to idolize it or fear it. The key is to learn how to work with it critically, constructively, and consistently. To use it as a partner in creating outcomes that matter.

For my son, the future isn’t predetermined. But it is shaped by the habits and mindset he builds now. The same is true for my daughter.

And the same is true for every one of us trying to navigate this moment of transition.

We can start by asking the right questions:

• What am I uniquely good at that AI cannot replicate?
• Where can AI enhance my work without replacing it?
• How can I grow the muscles of adaptability, critical thinking, and digital fluency?

The world is changing. That part is inevitable.

But how we show up in that change: curious, capable, and composed, that part is still up to us.