The new jobs won't be in coding, but for curators, concierges, caregivers, conversationalists, and other flesh-and-blood alternatives to bots and algorithms.
And while you are being human, be a whole human. An emotional and spiritual human, not just a physical and mental human. Otherwise something will still be missing from your being, your life, and your world.
I can offer a comparison of customer-service experiences--one in the US, with AI or AI-generated scripts for call-center staff, the other in Greece, without scripts. Without fail, every time I have to speak to someone at a Greek bank, believe it or not, the interaction is pleasant, conversational, and, above all, human. It's a striking contrast to the equivalent call with a US-based company or service. They're not using AI (yet) in Greece. The experience of the phone call is fundamentally social, person, and human.
I had a Customer Service call at a Credit Union/Bank I use. EVERY time & I mean EVERYTIME I have talked to a person there it has been cordial ,Knowledgeable & helpful. I had a Long call recently with the nicest ,most helpful Lady. It took awhile with some dead time. In between we had a Most pleasant talk & Laughs too. I actually told her how they must be getting very good training & how Patient & Knowledgeable they all were & that it definitely was not usually the case these days. She was very happy to hear this & pleasantly surprised. (I learned this was usually the best way a Long time ago. Workers everywhere are starved for Feedback & actual Acknowledgment of a Job well done. They aren't getting it !)
The funny thing is ,my daughter had been laid off recently from the Medical world after many years. She is almost done with training at This VERY company. She had been telling me these very things since she was hired. Amazing !
Ted, this lands because you’re not really talking about nostalgia—you’re describing verification.
A signed book isn’t just “special”; it’s an authorship chain-of-custody you can feel. The Alabama Booksmith makes the point brutally clear: in a world where origin is cheap to counterfeit, presence becomes the watermark. Same with vinyl sold at the table after a gig—the artifact is almost secondary to the brief, undeniable fact that a real person stood there and made it.
What I keep noticing is that the “human premium” isn’t sentimental. It’s practical: accountability, taste, context, and the subtle calibration that happens in a live interaction. Algorithms can optimize signals, but they can’t replace the trust that forms when someone competent simply shows up and owns the exchange.
If this is where things are headed, then “concierge” and “curator” aren’t soft alternatives to tech—they’re the high-reliability layer the digital world accidentally made valuable again.
That was quite a refreshing read Ted! I like the part where you mentioned to try out being human, lol, because it is cool! I’m hopeful the younger generations will realize how all this technology disrupts some of the best parts of being here on earth, like the simple things such as enjoying a walk in nature, noticing how beautiful life is and slowing down when everywhere seems to try to rush everyone.
One of your more recent posts about AI—while important to report on—was troubling, and really emphasized the existential dread I’d already been feeling for several years. This was the twist I badly needed to hear. Cheers!
It's funny, I like the self check for small amounts, but I deal with people all day. When I shop it's usually when I'm on my way home and just want to get in and out of there as fast as I can. I enjoy the human interaction during the day, but at the end of it I'm just ready to go home, mix an adult beverage or two and chill listening to music in my Jazz Cave, sometimes with all the lights out and my phone turned off.
Further to your remark, I can recommend David Graeber's book, Bullshit Jobs--a serious, engaging study from the brilliant and much-missed anthropologist.
I felt this way for a long time, but now I'm not too sure.
I certainly think big changes need to happen within our gov't in order for it to function at home and on the global stage. This no doubt involves reworking our entire economic system.
I am hopeful the shift to a more kind, equitable global society won't require more bloodshed than we are already seeing.
I can confirm that trend with my Substack Sessions where every week I release one song of originals and my versions of selected covers from my repertoire as a live recording incl. video without the polished AI ’enhancements‘, autotune or other gimmicks.
Just my voice and my acoustic guitar.
My daily livestream on my YouTube channel brought me more than 1200 new subscribers since I started back in May 2025. Unbelievable for my tiny account and channel!
It’s my daily warmup for my voice, hands and brains. I perform songs, talk about the life as a working musician and add some backstage anecdotes for entertainment purposes right from the heart of good ole Europe in Liechtenstein.
The art of conversing, conversation… hearing another’s voice and inflection, having eye contact and visual cues, (perhaps a random goofy face gesture thrown in there, not an emoji)… spontaneity and energy… synergy, that becomes contagious, drawing others in. The natural algorithms that are within us as humans, to be around and/or look at another human being, knowing what the other may need, just by looking at, asking or hearing them! Oh, to be human with another human, live, with no digital interpretations (or misinterpretations)!
On the flip side, we are not gonna have another Elena Ferrante for literary phenomenon. How authors choose to relate themselves to the world should not be predicated on their physical presence or "proof" that they are flesh and blood human, because their books should speak for themselves as works of art. Culture distributors demanding presence of culture creators to verify the creators' "humanity", I get why that has a massive appeal in this day and age, but at what cost to the creators? We already had enough of Spotify and Amazon's Tyranny of Distribution on creators, why do we think a similar game but played by a physical bookstore is any different and a cause worthy for celebration? It just makes the publishing and creative industry more extractive and exploitive: they don't just own your music and your books now, they also own YOU as a human being. And they disregard your own will on how to relate to others, your books, and the world, all in the name of guarding humanity.
The flip side of that is what once were music demos are now AI meeting pieces. Producers are tasked with beating AI. The most positive news is the AI recognition apps. It would be better if there were a mandatory AI label so the audience knows what they’re consuming. Human is expensive, regulated, and rule based HR driven. Human optimism could erode as the Tic Toc trained AI audience comes to power with their robot buddies. This is the evolution of the local sawdust floored hardware store shuttered by bigger, cheaper and #1: profitable. Who votes no for profit? Hopefully us humans.
And while you are being human, be a whole human. An emotional and spiritual human, not just a physical and mental human. Otherwise something will still be missing from your being, your life, and your world.
And allow everyone else to be human, even if you don't like them.
Amen!
The Greeks called it Mētis- all the parts of us that cannot be measured, that connect, inspire and evoke beauty.
I can offer a comparison of customer-service experiences--one in the US, with AI or AI-generated scripts for call-center staff, the other in Greece, without scripts. Without fail, every time I have to speak to someone at a Greek bank, believe it or not, the interaction is pleasant, conversational, and, above all, human. It's a striking contrast to the equivalent call with a US-based company or service. They're not using AI (yet) in Greece. The experience of the phone call is fundamentally social, person, and human.
I had a Customer Service call at a Credit Union/Bank I use. EVERY time & I mean EVERYTIME I have talked to a person there it has been cordial ,Knowledgeable & helpful. I had a Long call recently with the nicest ,most helpful Lady. It took awhile with some dead time. In between we had a Most pleasant talk & Laughs too. I actually told her how they must be getting very good training & how Patient & Knowledgeable they all were & that it definitely was not usually the case these days. She was very happy to hear this & pleasantly surprised. (I learned this was usually the best way a Long time ago. Workers everywhere are starved for Feedback & actual Acknowledgment of a Job well done. They aren't getting it !)
The funny thing is ,my daughter had been laid off recently from the Medical world after many years. She is almost done with training at This VERY company. She had been telling me these very things since she was hired. Amazing !
Yes! I love thinking of all the Cs - caregivers, culture carriers, community builders, and why they matter so much more. Thanks for this.
Ted, this lands because you’re not really talking about nostalgia—you’re describing verification.
A signed book isn’t just “special”; it’s an authorship chain-of-custody you can feel. The Alabama Booksmith makes the point brutally clear: in a world where origin is cheap to counterfeit, presence becomes the watermark. Same with vinyl sold at the table after a gig—the artifact is almost secondary to the brief, undeniable fact that a real person stood there and made it.
What I keep noticing is that the “human premium” isn’t sentimental. It’s practical: accountability, taste, context, and the subtle calibration that happens in a live interaction. Algorithms can optimize signals, but they can’t replace the trust that forms when someone competent simply shows up and owns the exchange.
If this is where things are headed, then “concierge” and “curator” aren’t soft alternatives to tech—they’re the high-reliability layer the digital world accidentally made valuable again.
That was quite a refreshing read Ted! I like the part where you mentioned to try out being human, lol, because it is cool! I’m hopeful the younger generations will realize how all this technology disrupts some of the best parts of being here on earth, like the simple things such as enjoying a walk in nature, noticing how beautiful life is and slowing down when everywhere seems to try to rush everyone.
Yes Yes ,YES
One of your more recent posts about AI—while important to report on—was troubling, and really emphasized the existential dread I’d already been feeling for several years. This was the twist I badly needed to hear. Cheers!
It's funny, I like the self check for small amounts, but I deal with people all day. When I shop it's usually when I'm on my way home and just want to get in and out of there as fast as I can. I enjoy the human interaction during the day, but at the end of it I'm just ready to go home, mix an adult beverage or two and chill listening to music in my Jazz Cave, sometimes with all the lights out and my phone turned off.
Best news I’ve read in a long time. Go humans!
"AI's gonna take your job" - let it! So many jobs are BS profit-making schemes that hurt the world.
I want public transit, affordable housing, mental health services, and parks parks parks! Let's plant trees and dance in the moonlight, people.
Further to your remark, I can recommend David Graeber's book, Bullshit Jobs--a serious, engaging study from the brilliant and much-missed anthropologist.
I want those things too, but we will not get them at this point without revolutionary struggle.
I felt this way for a long time, but now I'm not too sure.
I certainly think big changes need to happen within our gov't in order for it to function at home and on the global stage. This no doubt involves reworking our entire economic system.
I am hopeful the shift to a more kind, equitable global society won't require more bloodshed than we are already seeing.
I can confirm that trend with my Substack Sessions where every week I release one song of originals and my versions of selected covers from my repertoire as a live recording incl. video without the polished AI ’enhancements‘, autotune or other gimmicks.
Just my voice and my acoustic guitar.
My daily livestream on my YouTube channel brought me more than 1200 new subscribers since I started back in May 2025. Unbelievable for my tiny account and channel!
It’s my daily warmup for my voice, hands and brains. I perform songs, talk about the life as a working musician and add some backstage anecdotes for entertainment purposes right from the heart of good ole Europe in Liechtenstein.
I think I tried using Celemony on something ,just a short line in one of my Recordings way back. More trouble than it's worth
One can hope, but it takes a human to recognize a human, as opposed to an almost automaton.
The art of conversing, conversation… hearing another’s voice and inflection, having eye contact and visual cues, (perhaps a random goofy face gesture thrown in there, not an emoji)… spontaneity and energy… synergy, that becomes contagious, drawing others in. The natural algorithms that are within us as humans, to be around and/or look at another human being, knowing what the other may need, just by looking at, asking or hearing them! Oh, to be human with another human, live, with no digital interpretations (or misinterpretations)!
On the flip side, we are not gonna have another Elena Ferrante for literary phenomenon. How authors choose to relate themselves to the world should not be predicated on their physical presence or "proof" that they are flesh and blood human, because their books should speak for themselves as works of art. Culture distributors demanding presence of culture creators to verify the creators' "humanity", I get why that has a massive appeal in this day and age, but at what cost to the creators? We already had enough of Spotify and Amazon's Tyranny of Distribution on creators, why do we think a similar game but played by a physical bookstore is any different and a cause worthy for celebration? It just makes the publishing and creative industry more extractive and exploitive: they don't just own your music and your books now, they also own YOU as a human being. And they disregard your own will on how to relate to others, your books, and the world, all in the name of guarding humanity.
The flip side of that is what once were music demos are now AI meeting pieces. Producers are tasked with beating AI. The most positive news is the AI recognition apps. It would be better if there were a mandatory AI label so the audience knows what they’re consuming. Human is expensive, regulated, and rule based HR driven. Human optimism could erode as the Tic Toc trained AI audience comes to power with their robot buddies. This is the evolution of the local sawdust floored hardware store shuttered by bigger, cheaper and #1: profitable. Who votes no for profit? Hopefully us humans.
Back in 1997, I warned about technology dehumanizing us in a book called the soul in cyberspace.
Interesting, how well do you think it's aged?
I recently reread it because I’m going to add a new forward and add notes to each chapter. I think it is aged quite well actually.