I had a bit of an epiphany today. Picture this: me, sipping coffee at some decadent resort in a warm country, contemplating the great existential dread of our time – AI taking all our jobs. It’s the big scare, right? Skynet’s coming for our spreadsheets and our artisanal cheese-making gigs.
But you know what? It struck me that this feels suspiciously like the same panic that gripped people back in the 18th and 19th centuries when the first waves of automation hit. New machines arrived, and everyone was convinced humanity was doomed to obsolescence. Sound familiar?
My moment of clarity came courtesy of “the mop guy.” Yes, really. While philosophizing over my caffeine, I watched this fellow in action. His mission, should he choose to accept it (and he clearly did), was vigilance. He stood guard, mop at the ready, scanning the entrance like a hawk. The second a tourist dashed in with wet flip-flops, leaving damp tracks on the gleaming marble floor, swoosh, he was there, wiping away the offending moisture.
And it hit me. If this specific, slightly niche, but undeniably human task hasn’t been outsourced to a robot yet… maybe we’ll all still have something to eat in the future.
Seriously, I started thinking about it. I could probably brainstorm at least three different automated solutions to replace the mop guy for under €500. Heck, I remember writing code twenty years ago specifically designed to detect ‘dirt on the floor’.
The technology, in some form, has been around. Yet, there he was. The human mop guy, diligently ensuring a slip-free, aesthetically pleasing entrance.
So, maybe the AI takeover isn’t quite the overnight revolution we’re sometimes led to believe. Perhaps, like the industrial revolutions before, it’ll be a more complex, gradual transition, leaving plenty of room for human ingenuity, adaptability… and yes, even vigilant guys with mops. Food for thought, anyway.
PS: Post was refined using Gemini 2.5 Pro that has way better English than me, so I have to acknowledge it as a coautor.
Thank you Gemini or Gimi how I like to call it.