AI Isn't Going Away. Now What?

How I'm Managing the Existential Anxiety — and The Two Paths Forward I Keep Coming Back To

As a technology nerd, I always enjoy learning and testing out the latest products and apps.

Never in my life has the technology improved so dramatically as with artificial intelligence in the past two years.

It’s been shocking to say the least.

The turning point for me was earlier this year. I built a fully functioning iOS app from scratch using AI, with no previous app development or coding experience.

I can use it every day on my iPhone!

Granted, it took me many hours of configuring everything to work in Apple’s app ecosystem and lots of testing. But, the sheer ability for me, somebody who’s never created an app before, to build a professional-looking journal app in days is truly astounding.

If someone with zero coding experience can build a functioning iOS app in a few days, you can probably guess where this is all heading.

Regardless of how you feel about AI, it’s not going away.

The top AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have too much capital behind them to slow down.

Many large US-based companies are actively working to incorporate AI into all facets of their business while cutting human jobs. (See: Meta, Amazon, Cisco Systems, Snap, Cloudflare, Ford/GM, Citibank, Walmart, etc.)

Are you worried? I certainly am.

Each week, I’m testing the latest AI models and seeing how advanced they are becoming. And how quickly they are evolving. And I’m reading about executives at these companies aggressively rolling out AI while posting record profits and announcing layoffs.

The sci-fi movies aren’t that far off anymore.

I have deep fears about what AI will do to our planet, humanity, society and the job market, not to mention our individual roles.

The more I use agentic AI tools, the more I’m realizing they are rapidly learning how to replicate the knowledge work I do, from building presentations and reports to automating actual complex workflows.

I know I’m not the only one experiencing this existential anxiety.

How do we make sense of something this big, and figure out what, if anything, we can actually do about it?

Let’s Name the Fears

There are levels to these fears:

1. The macro level fear: The world is changing more rapidly than it ever has in ways I can’t control or stop.

2. The micro level fear: What does this all mean for me specifically—for my job, my income, my relevance, and my happiness?

These fears both combine for an existential angst I’ve been feeling for a while now.

It’s a deeply unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach coming from the fact that I’m not sure what jobs will look like in two years. Or five years. Let alone in 10 years.

The only thing I am confident in at this point is that AI isn’t going away.

So what are we supposed to do? How do we not lose ourselves to constant anxiety worrying about the future?

The Macro Fear—Stop Resisting It

Anxiety has taught me this over and over: the things I resist hardest are the things that cause me the most suffering.

The solution has been to stop focusing on things outside my control.

The cat is out of the bag with AI. There is far too much money that has been poured into AI for it to slow down now.

And neither can any of us individually stop it.

Sure, we can fight to keep data centers out of our neighborhoods (and we should). And we can vote for people who align with our views on how AI should shape our future (and we should).

But I cannot single-handedly stop OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others from continuing the AI arms race.

At least for me, I’ve accepted this is happening.

And while that doesn’t completely end my existential anxiety, it does allow me to choose to focus on what I can control.

The Micro Fear—The Fork in the Road

As I see it, there are two main options for us right now:

• Path A: You can choose to upskill around AI with the knowledge and skills that companies will be requiring moving forward, OR

• Path B: You can choose an AI-resilient path in skilled trades like HVAC, plumbing, electricians, barbers, physical therapists, etc. that require a physical presence, judgment calls, and human trust that can’t be replicated anytime soon.

Regardless of the path you choose, the important thing to realize is you have agency to make that decision for yourself.

I’ve already made my decision. I’ve been continuing down Path A for over a year now.

Practically, that's meant getting comfortable with tools I dismissed a year ago. Specifically for my day job, I use AI to draft, research, and automate parts of my workflows that used to take hours. I built that iOS app not just because it was interesting, but because I wanted to understand what these tools could actually do — and what they'd mean for someone like me.

The more I use them, the less they feel like a threat and the more they feel like leverage I actually have.

You might instead choose Path B. Choosing a field for its AI resilience is its own form of agency.

I've noticed for years that once I make a decision and start moving, the anxiety quiets down. Choosing to upskill myself with AI has been no different.

It’s not up to me to solve AI for humanity.

I just need to continue to improve my knowledge and ability, which is a much smaller, less anxiety-inducing task.

Bringing It Back to Anxiety

At the end of the day, this post isn’t just about technology. It’s about sharpening your mindset to reduce anxiety.

I don’t pretend to have all the answers when it comes to AI.

I still often wonder if I’m doing enough. And if the skills I’m building will even matter in five years.

What I have is the decision I’ve made, and the small sense of agency that comes with it. On the days the anxiety takes over, I can remind myself I’m doing what I can. And that’s enough for me.

What are you doing about it? I’d love to hear in the comments.