Who Wins When AI Does the Work?
As AI multiplies productivity, it's reshaping how—and when—we work, opening the door to a more flexible mix of mental, physical, and personal pursuits.
In his book Deep Work, Cal Newport argues that many of history's most notable achievements — from mathematical breakthroughs to literary classics — were produced in just a few hours of focused, high-value effort each day (and certainly not in 8-hour, office-bound chunks filled with status updates and activity reports).
By now, we know that AI isn't a productivity tool; it's a productivity multiplier — and an inverse multiplier of knowledge work and the traditional 9-to-5 workday.
That means it's coming for almost every part of our work. The right question isn't, "What part of my job can AI do better?" It's, "What part can't it?"
The honest answer for most of us? Very little. Fundraising, research, strategy, budgeting, analysis, and reporting can now be automated or scaled far faster — and often more accurately — than any human team. The only work worth defending is what still requires uniquely human judgment, emotional intelligence, or contextual nuance.
The good news? AI might finally let us achieve the kind of work Newport idealizes: a few hours of deep, meaningful concentration each day, with the rest of our time reclaimed for other activities (or income-earning endeavors) — whether trade or gig work, hobbies, social connection, or family.
Predicted Outcome 1: The Rise of the Contractor and a Renaissance for Trades
Most companies don't need full-time knowledge workers in the traditional sense. Ever-busy full-time employees point to our meetings, report-outs, and "check‑ins" as evidence of the value we add. Contractors, who ebb and flow with demand for work, deliver a clearer exchange of fees for outcomes.
With AI displacement, many of us will diversify our time — using part of the day for focused, high-value knowledge work and the rest for pursuits that add incremental value to our lives, whether for supplemental income or simply for physical or intellectual stimulation.
Whether that looks like launching a startup, starting a local plumbing business, or spending afternoons gardening will depend on our priorities — and whether AI-created value is redistributed to free us to pursue passion projects, or requires us to monetize our extra hours.
Predicted Outcome 2: The Collapse of Traditional Media Economics
Information economics have been shifting since the demise of the legacy network-TV triopoly, but today the pace of change has accelerated exponentially. Traditional media is being scraped and summarized by AI. At the same time, entrepreneurial creators reach audiences at a fraction of the cost (albeit often at the expense of in-depth reporting, journalistic rigor, and fact-checking).
And it's not just hard news. As Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway noted on Pivot last week, their podcast generates $20‑25M annually (growing 20% year-over-year) with just 15 staff, while the recently canceled Late Show with Stephen Colbert generated $60M with 200 employees — and still lost ~$40M annually.
The economics are unsustainable, particularly as the long-standing marriage between capitalism and the First Amendment becomes increasingly tenuous.
Predicted Outcome 3: Brands Will Become Their Own Best Sources
The consolidation of credible journalists, influencers, and podcasters into a small, hard-to-reach group (think Kara and Scott) will make traditional media relations less effective.
Brands can't rely solely on traditional PR alone. They'll need to publish a higher volume of AI-discoverable, subject-authored content — not just for SEO, but to ensure their perspectives train the very systems people use to learn about them.
In this future, brands will be recognized as the most credible voice on their own business, which will matter far more than any earned media hit.
The Takeaway
With the obsolescence of the 40-hour knowledge work week, AI may finally allow us to structure our lives more intentionally each day: a few hours of focused "deep work," supplemented by trade or gig work, plus some physical labor or hobbying, and more time for family and community.
The winners won't just be those who keep up with AI — they'll be the ones who use it to buy back their time and design a life of their own making.
