AI didn't take my job. It just made me confront why I was doing it.

I've been using AI tools seriously for about two years now. First as a writing aid, then as a thinking aid, then as something I can't fully describe. And the thing nobody warned me about isn't that it might take my job.

It's that it would make me confront why I was doing it.

When you can generate a first draft in ninety seconds, the question that remains isn't 'how do I write this?' It's 'why am I writing this?' And for a lot of the work I was doing, I didn't have a good answer.

That's more unsettling than being replaced. Being replaced is at least a clear narrative. This is murkier. You're not gone. You're just left holding the question the tool can't answer: what does this work mean, and why does it need to be you?

I've talked to enough product managers, writers, and strategists over the last year to know this is a common experience. The tools don't just automate the task. They surface the parts of the job that were always a little bit hollow.

Some people respond to this by insisting that the human element is irreplaceable. I think that's wishful thinking dressed up as confidence.

The better response, I think, is to get more honest about what you're actually for. To stop defending the tasks and start asking about the purpose.

AI didn't take my job. It just made the job harder to hide behind.