[[Agency is key in the future world]] AI is fundamentally undermining the value and necessity of these traditional credentials in many (though not all) domains. 1. **Democratization of Specialized Knowledge and Skills:** - **Rapid Skill Acquisition:** AI tools like ChatGPT (and many others for coding, design, writing, data analysis, etc.) allow individuals to achieve outcomes that previously required years of dedicated study and practice. The author contrasts his nine months to build a prototype a decade ago with a week now to build a "state-of-the-art platform." - **Lowering Barriers to Entry:** You no longer need a formal degree in computer science to build a functional app, or a marketing degree to create an effective ad campaign, if AI can guide you or generate significant portions of the work. The "$20 ChatGPT subscription" can, for many tasks, replicate the output of "several years of experience." 2. **Shift from "Knowing How" to "Knowing What & Why":** - AI can handle a lot of the "how" (the technical implementation, the detailed execution). This frees up individuals to focus on the "what" (what problem needs solving, what is the vision) and the "why" (what is the strategic purpose). - The value shifts from possessing the detailed, specialized, procedural knowledge (which AI can provide) to having the vision, strategic thinking, and "agency" to direct the AI towards a valuable goal. 3. **Focus on Outcomes over Processes/Qualifications:** - If an individual, using AI, can deliver a high-quality result (a working software, a compelling design, a sound financial model), the market may become less concerned with how they acquired the ability to produce that result or what formal qualifications they hold. - The article mentions "companies like Midjourney, with its 40 employees and $500m of yearly revenues." These companies are succeeding based on the power of their product, not necessarily the pedigree of every employee's credentials. 4. **Blurring Professional Boundaries:** - When AI makes various skills more accessible, individuals are no longer confined to their narrow, credentialed specialty. "Product managers developing business financial models; designers writing commercial ads; barbershops building custom booking systems" are examples of this. Their ability to do these things, powered by AI, trumps the need for a specific credential in each of those new areas.