Perspectives

Like a lot of things in life, perspective matters.

Today I want to talk about the glass – half full, or half empty. Not as a cliche, but as a genuine lens for where we are right now in the tech industry.

For about two years, I’ve been using the same words to describe this moment: the best of times and the worst of times. Borrowed from Dickens, but I keep coming back to them because nothing else quite fits.

Here’s why.

We have access to actual Artificial Intelligence. Not the theoretical kind. Not the science fiction kind. The real thing – running in our browsers, answering our questions, writing code, diagnosing diseases, and reshaping how entire industries operate. That is extraordinary. By any measure, we are living through something historic.

And yet.

That same technology is responsible for the displacement of thousands of jobs across the industry, with many thousands more to come. Engineers, analysts, writers, designers – roles that took years to build, eliminated or restructured in months. Not by a recession. Not by outsourcing. By a tool we built ourselves.

So which is it? Best of times, or worst?

Both. At the same time. And that’s the part that’s hard to sit with.

Some people are thriving right now. Growing, adapting, finding ways to ride the wave. And that’s a real and valid perspective.

But many others aren’t as lucky – and their experience is just as real.