It isn’t just different, it is more

I have been keeping in touch with the progress of AI over the last few years. Even dressing up in my "Sunday's Best", professional clothes I rarely wear anymore, to attend a conference or two. I keep hearing about how AI will create different jobs, roles we can’t even imagine today. That’s certainly true. A decade ago, few predicted we’d have millions of content creators making a living on platforms that didn’t exist. But focusing only on “different” misses at least half the story. It frankly is bothering me so much I had to get my thoughts out somewhere so here goes.

History shows us that technology often expands what we already have. Given I have been recently digging into the depths of my closet for business attire, take the cotton gin: it massively increased the supply of cotton, which in turn expanded industries from textiles to shipping. Of course, it also tragically deepened the reliance on slavery proof that progress can be double-edged.

Another of my favorite examples is the washing machine. Before it, laundry was such a chore that people often wore clothes until they smelled unbearable. “Sunday’s best” wasn’t just a fashion phrase it was literally the only nice outfit many owned. Washing machines didn’t just make laundry easier they created demand for more clothes, more styles, more shoes, and more industries around them.

And let’s not forget the loom and the original Technophobe. It created so much efficiency that it sparked a labor backlash. The term “Luddite” comes from the Luddites. Yarn workers who feared losing their livelihoods to the loom. Ironically, the loom didn’t destroy clothing jobs; it helped launch a global industry and created even more work downstream.

That’s the real promise of AI

Not just different but more and better versions of what we already value. More environmentally friendly products at lower cost. More efficient distribution of medicine, food and necessities to every community. True abundance.

Of course, achieving this requires clean, cheap energy. Without it, scaling AI to its full potential won’t be sustainable. But if we pair AI with innovation in energy, we can unlock a future of more fun and engaging jobs, better healthcare, smarter food systems, and sustainable goods and services that were once luxuries becoming everyday realities.

What could we do more of?

For organizations, this means asking a simple question: what could we do more of? Shorter cycle times, higher service levels, broader reach. The path is clear, shift people not just into new but existing human-centered work where empathy, creativity, and judgment shine, and outsource the rest to technology, including AI. The organizations that embrace this “more” mindset will be the ones leading the next era of growth. Find what you do well and identify the constraints keeping you from doing more of it.