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“Mourning a life without AI” by Nikola Jurkovic

Nov 10, 2025
Nikola Jurkovic, a writer and commentator on AI, dives into the existential implications of artificial general intelligence. He argues that AGI may emerge within the next decade, radically transforming society beyond recognition. Nikola discusses the potential risks of human extinction and how AGI could derail traditional life plans, reshaping everything from education to retirement. He explores both utopian possibilities and the nostalgia for a life untouched by AI, blending hope with a tinge of mourning for what we might lose.
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ANECDOTE

Boots And A Changed Future

  • Nikola Jurkovic recounts looking at his single pair of winter boots and realizing he will probably never buy winter boots again.
  • He connects this to believing the world as we know it probably won't last more than a decade due to AGI.
INSIGHT

Post‑AGI World Is Hard To Imagine

  • Jurkovic argues AGI within a decade is plausible and will make the post-AGI world unrecognizable.
  • He cites other writers who imagine very different but still limited post-AGI futures as lower bounds on change.
ANECDOTE

Uploads Running An Unrecognizable Economy

  • Jurkovic summarizes Robin Hansen's Age of M where uploads run the economy and biological humans become a baffled retired aristocracy.
  • He describes uploads spun up for tasks, many dying quickly, creating a Malthusian-like economy among trillions of uploads.
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