Artificial intelligence is reshaping the workplace at a pace few could have imagined even a few years ago. Organizations are exploring how these tools can change the way work gets done, but beneath that broader conversation is a much more personal question many people are quietly carrying: Where do I fit when technology can do what I have spent my career doing?
That question is at the center of the tension we are experiencing right now.
We are living through what feels like a tectonic shift. The ground beneath the way we work is moving, and that naturally creates uncertainty. There is excitement around what AI can make possible, but there is also a very human concern about what happens when something we have spent years building begins to feel replaceable.
When we experience change at this scale, our instinct is often to focus on what we could lose. We start looking outward for answers before taking the time to understand what is happening within ourselves. This disruption, though, creates an opportunity to examine what we as humans uniquely offer — our experience, perspective and deeper understanding.
The difference between information and meaning
We have access to more information than ever before. A question that once required research, conversation or time to unpack can now be answered almost instantly.
But an answer isn’t the same as understanding.
Understanding comes from the way we connect information to our own experiences. It comes from knowing the context behind a situation and recognizing why something matters. That perspective is built over time. It comes from what we have seen, what we have learned and the moments that have changed how we think. AI can give us information. The meaning we find in that information is still shaped by us.
How introspection creates self-agency during AI disruption
In moments of significant change, our instinct is often to search for certainty. We want to know what will happen next and how we should prepare. But disruption rarely gives us those answers immediately. It requires us to sit with the questions long enough to understand what they reveal.
That reflection matters because fear can shape the way we see ourselves. When we focus only on what technology may change, it becomes easy to overlook the experience, perspective and judgment we already carry.
Self-agency begins with recognizing that we still have a role in shaping what comes next. I often think about the difference between being on the effect side of a force and being on the cause side of it.
In other words, do we want to simply experience what happens around us, or do we want to recognize where we can influence the outcome? We may not be able to stop the tectonic shift happening around us, but we can choose how we participate in it. Our response matters.
How do you create meaning in a changing world?
The pace of change can make it tempting to focus only on what is new. What tools can do. What tasks they can take off our plates. What becomes possible next.
Yet progress isn’t only about what we gain. It’s also about what we intentionally preserve.
Our ability to reflect, make connections and learn from experience becomes more valuable as technology advances.
The more we rely on tools to help us find answers, the more important it becomes to understand the questions we are asking and why those questions matter. Staying connected to the experiences that shape us is what allows us to create meaning in a changing world.