Imagine a world where the internet kind of cleans
itself up, where scams are just too easy to spot,
and where everyone's baseline intelligence, well,
it gets a significant boost. What if AI isn't
just another tool, but maybe a catalyst for a
massive upgrade to human intelligence? Welcome
to the Deep Dive. This is where we unpack the
most intriguing ideas from the sources you've
shared with us. Today, we're diving into a really
fascinating collection of insights about AI's
surprising impact, both on mass intelligence
and the evolving landscape of work. Our mission,
as always, is to give you that shortcut to being
well -informed on these critical topics. So we'll
explore this idea of unshittification, look at
some of the latest AI innovations, and then,
yeah, confront some pretty stark realities about
how AI is reshaping the entry -level job market.
Let's start with a truly surprising idea that
seems to be gaining traction. AI might actually
be helping us escape the slop of the digital
age rather than creating more of it. Ethan Moller
calls this mass intelligence. Yeah, it's a compelling
thought, isn't it? Especially when you think
about the context. I mean, we've all experienced
what people are calling inshittification. You
know, think about Google search results just
drowned in SEO sludge or Airbnb with all those
surprise cleaning fees and frankly, some shady
hosts or social media just turning into outrage
machines. It's that slow creep where platforms
just turn to garbage. And this counter narrative,
the un -shitification suggests AI could actually
reverse that trend. Precisely. Yeah. The core
idea is basically this. If everyone and we're
talking over a billion people now using models
like GPT or Claude has access to a near genius
level AI agent. Well, the economics just flip.
It suddenly becomes cheaper, genuinely cheaper
to create real value than to try and game the
system. Scams, they become like trivially easy
for AI to detect. Those old SEO hacks just stop
working. Algorithmic tricks, they just die off.
It's about making deception expensive again,
economically unviable. And this isn't just theory,
right? We're seeing huge bets being placed. Meta,
for instance, putting down, what, $72 billion
on... personal superintelligence. And there are
these really incredible real world examples like
Alpha School, AI tutors helping kids learn whole
grade levels in just 20 or 30 hours. No, absolutely.
Those examples really make it concrete. Like
there was one student who jumped 50 SAT points
because the AI figured out they just needed a
quick refresher on some third grade math. Can
you imagine? Or another kid who loved learning
with their AI tutors so much, they actually canceled
summer break. What's so fascinating here, I think,
is how every smart user, you know, boosted by
AI essentially becomes a node in this huge distributed
intelligence network. And that just makes every
decision, every interaction much harder to manipulate.
The systems that rely on manipulation start to
lose their grip. That's a powerful vision. a
world where AI makes deception unprofitable.
But it sounds like a huge shakeup for businesses
too. If trust becomes the main thing, what's
the first kind of visible shift you'd expect
to see, you know, in how businesses operate ethically
or how we interact online? Well, I think the
immediate pressure would be for platforms, for
businesses to pivot really sharply towards genuine
value creation. It's almost forced upon them.
Imagine if every user could instantly verify
a claim or spot hidden fees or... see -through
manipulative marketing, trust would just skyrocket
as the ultimate currency, right? It makes it
incredibly difficult for bad actors to even get
a foothold. So it's not just about being good,
it's sheer economic necessity. It rewards authenticity
and just makes manipulation way less profitable.
We could maybe see a return to a more meritocratic
internet. You know, driven by real utility and
transparency. OK, that makes sense. So the enforced
honesty through technology. Let's pivot then
from the theoretical to what's actually happening.
Right now in the world, it feels like a constant
stream of news, doesn't it? New tools, massive
investments. Oh, it's definitely a flurry. And
stepping back, you can kind of see two big trends
emerging almost daily, I think. First, AI is
rapidly democratizing really advanced creative
capabilities. We're seeing tools pop up that
let basically anyone generate hyper realistic
images from text or create these lifelike digital
avatars or even translate and publish video content
in any language. almost instantly. Tools like
HeyGen lets you create a digital version of yourself
in minutes. VoiceCheap translates video across
languages. It's wild. It really points towards
a future where, you know, sophisticated creative
work isn't just for specialists anymore. Right.
It's not just content creation, though. It's
about empowering people more broadly. Absolutely.
That's the second trend. The deep integration
into enterprise applications. Big stuff. Microsoft
just did that deal with the US GSA offering Microsoft
365 co -pilot free to millions of users for up
to a year. They project it'll save over $3 billion
in the first year alone. And then you've got
Apple, who quietly shipped models that are, get
this, 85 times faster and can caption video in
real time, all running locally on your device,
which shows powerful AI doesn't always need the
cloud. Wow. 85 times faster locally. And the
investment community is definitely noticing.
Anthropic just secured an incredible $13 billion
in Series F funding. It tripled their valuation
to like $183 billion. That's a huge vote of confidence.
$13 billion. That's staggering. A massive vote
of confidence, as you say. And it also shows
up in all the new tools designed to just empower
us, right? Like Virally, which helps get niche
-specific posts out on X and LinkedIn automatically.
Or BAVA for AI -powered diagrams. It's not just
big tech anymore. These are tools for everyone.
Oh, and remember that viral video, the black
plastic bag at the White House people thought
was AI? Oh, yeah, that caused a stir. Well, experts
analyzed it. Turns out, nope. No signs of AI.
Just a plastic bag being tossed. Sometimes things
are just... Good reminder. So with all this happening,
AI becoming so accessible, so powerful, what's
the biggest takeaway for someone? you know, trying
to keep up without feeling completely overwhelmed
by it all. Yeah, it is overwhelming. I think
the key takeaway really is to focus on understanding
the core capabilities of AI. What does it actually
enable you to do? Rather than trying to track
every single new tool that comes out, because
you just can't, recognize that AI is making complex
tasks more intuitive, more automated. It shifts
our focus maybe from pure execution to strategy
and creativity. So it requires a proactive shift,
I think, in how we approach both work and learning.
towards leveraging these tools as like powerful
co -pilots rather than just fearing they'll replace
us entirely. OK, leveraging them as co -pilots.
But now let's pivot to where that impact is becoming
really clear and maybe a bit sobering for some.
Yeah. The job market. What are your sources showing
about how AI is reshaping careers, particularly
those entry level roles? Yeah, this. This raises
an important and maybe somewhat challenging question.
The data suggests that while senior roles are
still growing, those entry level opportunities
are, oh, they're drawing up pretty significantly.
And it doesn't look like just a temporary blip.
It feels like a profound shift. It's especially
noticeable in sectors like wholesale, retail
and software. And it seems to be disproportionately
affecting graduates from, say, mid -tier schools.
The numbers. They really do show some significant
shifts here, don't they? Research indicates firms
that adopt generative AI, they reduce junior
hiring by about 22 % in the first six quarters.
That means junior roles decline, what, 7 % to
12 % compared to firms not using AI. And what's
really striking, as you said, it's not mass layoffs.
Exactly. It's companies just stopping the hiring
of new junior talent. Precisely. That's the key
finding. The entry level economy in certain areas
is kind of vanishing before our eyes. The hardest
hit. Wholesale and retail. Entry level hiring
down by around 40 percent per quarter in some
studies. And AI exposed feels, you know, anything
with repeatable tasks like coding support, data
entry. They're also feeling the brunt. Harvard
did that big study linking millions of LinkedIn
job records. They tracked the changes right after
companies started posting jobs like AI integrator
or similar roles. The correlation. seems pretty
clear. So it's a silent shift in demand, not
a mass firing. Yeah. Fewer doors opening. But
there's an interesting nuance in the data, isn't
there? Juniors already inside firms often get
promoted faster. But then why would wages for
those who do get hired or get promoted internally,
why would they largely stay flat despite all
these shifts? That seems counterintuitive. Right.
That's a really good question. And it's complex.
The thinking is, well, while existing juniors
might get faster promotions, their wages often
stay flat for a couple of reasons. One, Senior
employees still hold considerable leverage. They
have experience, domain knowledge, stuff AI can't
fully replicate, at least not yet. And two, the
juniors who do get hired in this new environment,
they're likely already stronger, more adaptable.
They probably come in with a certain baseline
of AI fluency. So it maintains a kind of competitive
equilibrium at that entry wage level. Essentially,
the bar for what entry level means has just been
raised significantly. The bar's been raised.
Okay. So for someone starting out now, or maybe
even someone looking to research, skill mid -career.
What's the most critical piece of advice we can
pull from this data about that vanishing entry
-level market? Look, I think the critical advice
has to be focus relentlessly on developing unique
non -repeatable skills. You know, those human
centric abilities that AI just can't easily replicate.
We're talking critical thinking, creativity,
complex problem solving, emotional intelligence,
interdisciplinary thinking, that sort of thing.
Embrace adaptability like never before and actively
look for roles that leverage AI to boost your
productivity rather than roles that might just
be automated by it. And maybe for those already
employed, really prioritize internal growth.
Upskilling within your current company seems
to be a key. many firms are adopting now. Develop
those uniquely human skills, be adaptable, leverage
AI, look for internal growth. Okay, we've covered
a lot of ground in this deep dive from that really
intriguing idea of AI driving mass intelligence
and maybe even unshitification online to the
explosion of new tools and then this very real
quiet transformation happening in the entry -level
job market. Yeah. And if we connect all this
to the bigger picture, it's pretty clear AI isn't
just changing how we work. It's potentially changing
how we think, how we learn, maybe even how we
define intelligence itself. The implications
are just profound, touching everything from education
with those AI tutors to how we interact with
information, especially with the resurgence of
concepts like world models for AI, basically,
how AI builds its own internal understanding,
its simulation of reality, its mind bending stuff.
So here's a final thought then. If AI helps us
detect deception, makes the world less susceptible
to manipulation, while at the same time it's
reshaping that entry -level job market so dramatically,
are we heading towards a future where human ingenuity
is both amplified by AI but also forced to specialize
much, much earlier in our careers? What will
entry -level even mean when the actual entry
point itself is shifting so drastically? Something
to think about. We invite you to consider your
own skills, your learning paths, and how you
engage with information in this rapidly changing
landscape. What really stands out to you from
this deep dive?