Ben Thompson's Skepticism and Personal Stakes

In this Long Read Sunday episode, a deep exploration of one of the hardest questions around AI: whether human work still matters as machines grow more capable. The episode examines competing visions of an AI-driven future, from worlds where labor disappears to ones where new forms of work, value, and identity emerge. Moving from inequality and capital concentration to the changing nature of expertise, product development, and creativity, the discussion argues that while the future of work is impossible to predict, a shift is already underway toward humans shaping tools, environments, and opportunities in fundamentally new ways.

Sources:

https://philiptrammell.substack.com/p/capital-in-the-22nd-century

https://stratechery.com/2026/ai-and-the-human-condition/

https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/when-ai-writes-almost-all-code-what

https://x.com/Saboo_Shubham_/status/2008742211194913117

https://x.com/reidhoffman/status/2008940669239247341

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