Will AI Take All Our Jobs or Unlock Abundance?
What AI really means for work, productivity, and leapfrogging in emerging markets
It feels like we’re standing at the edge of something massive. AI isn’t just another app or another platform shift. It’s starting to look like a whole new chapter in how humans work and live.
And here’s the fascinating thing: depending on who you talk to, you hear two radically different stories.
Story One: The End of Work
This is the dystopian view. In this story, AI keeps advancing until we hit Artificial General Intelligence and then Artificial Superintelligence. Machines become smarter than all of us combined. Every job, every task, every human contribution gets automated away.
So then what? Do we all just stop working? Is our future about universal basic income, 17 plus years of schooling with no job at the end, and a search for meaning when work is no longer ours to do?
Story Two: The Greatest Tool Ever Invented
The other story is far more optimistic. AI is just another tool, like fire, electricity, the printing press, or the internet. Yes, it’s powerful, but it is still a tool. And with it, we can finally tackle frontiers that have always felt out of reach. We could cure cancer, reverse aging, solve genetic diseases, and even explore space at scale.
And unlike machines, humans bring something special to the table: conscience, creativity, and purpose. AI might be the rocket fuel, but we are still the pilots.
The Question That Keeps Me Up: What About Developing Countries?
Here’s where it gets personal for me. What does all this mean for emerging markets?
We already face massive unemployment. If AI and robots start eating not just knowledge work but manual labor too, where does that leave millions of young people?
And yet, I see an opportunity.
Our real problem isn’t lack of labor. It’s low productivity. There’s this story Friedman tells: he visits a dam construction site and sees hundreds of workers with shovels. He asks, “Why not bulldozers?” The officials say, “We want to create jobs.” Friedman replies, “Then why not use spoons?”
That’s the trap. Emerging markets can’t continue to be inefficient. AI can be our bulldozer.
From Scarcity to Abundance
If we use AI right, it could be the biggest leapfrog in history. Imagine emerging markets jumping straight from low productivity to high growth. More efficient economies mean more resources, more innovation, and more opportunity. And with good governance, that means abundance: every child with rights, education, dignity, and a chance at a better life.
That’s what real development looks like.
Where Tyms Fits In
At Tyms, we are building AI and AI agents that do the work. These agents will not only handle knowledge work in the office but also find practical applications in the real world, working alongside people to drive productivity and revenue growth.
In the short run, for forward-looking companies and individuals, this means higher-quality jobs and more scalable businesses. In the long run, who knows? Ten years from now, things may look completely different.
What we do know is that AI is a catalyst. For productivity. For growth. For abundance.
So, Which Story Wins?
Will AGI take all our jobs? Or is AI just a tool? Honestly, I don’t know. I am starting to think none of us do.
But here’s what I do know: for emerging markets and for humanity, AI might just be the leap we’ve been waiting for.