A.I. is coming faster than we can process—and maybe faster than we’re prepared to handle.
My family is annoyed with me of late. For the past six to eight months, I’ve been obsessed with AI—Artificial Intelligence—and the technological changes we’re going to experience in such rapid-fire sequence, I have no idea how the world will adapt. Science fiction is soon our reality.
It’s everywhere. This past Memorial Day weekend, my family supported me in a triathlon I competed in, hosted in Austin, Texas.
Downtown Austin had driverless Waymo taxis—everywhere. Surreal to see humans sitting in the back of the car with no driver behind the wheel.
My grandparents were from the Greatest Generation—if they were alive today, I don’t think they’d believe me if I told them what I saw. But it’s true, and it’s nothing compared to what we’ll see in the next six months—let alone the next decade.
I’ve subscribed to several AI services: ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini to date. I’ve watched dramatic changes unfold across each platform as new features roll out. What it was like when I started compared to now? It’s kind of like watching Gone with the Wind in its original black-and-white format, then switching to Avatar: Way of Water in IMAX 3D. And those changes happened in less than a year. A year!
These tools are immensely powerful. And fun. It’s wild to see the silly things they can produce in a matter of seconds.
The future can replicate almost anything… but not everything. Human experience still has unmatched value. Technology can do a lot—but it can’t replace the joy and pride of building a life with your family.
But beyond the novelty, they’ve helped me with legal matters, financial modeling, planning activities and travel with my family, improving my health and fitness—and so much more. I’m sure I’m only tapping into a fraction of a percent of what they’re capable of, but what I’ve seen so far feels miraculous.
We’re starting to see disruption in the job market. Major companies are downsizing, not due to economic slowdowns—but because of greater efficiencies through AI and robotics. A driverless taxi is one thing. But humanoid robots? They’re coming. Robots that work for free, don’t get sick, don’t talk back, don’t renegotiate. I’ve seen enough to know these things are arriving in the blink of an eye.
What will it all mean for our lives? I don’t know. It’s both exciting and terrifying. But being the optimist I am, I choose to be excited. How can I embrace what’s here? Some experts—those without financial skin in the game—predict a coming Utopia. A world where labor and energy costs go to zero. If manufacturing and the cost to power it become free, then humanity can produce anything, on a mass scale. Total abundance.
I can’t predict the future. But I’ve learned from history: every time society tries to control mass outcome, it fails. Humans adapt. We do it well. And we don’t have the power to stop change. Nature teaches that too. Adapt or die.
Tom is the Smart One
I recently attended a National Honor Society ceremony for my daughter Gretchen’s senior class. It was great to see the senior student body go up one by one, get their certificates, and hear what they planned to do after graduation. About 35 kids, all with bright futures. Engineering, medicine, law—even astrophysics. One young man walked across the stage and it was announced: “After graduation, Tom plans to go to trade school and pick a profession he can profit from.” Under my breath, I muttered, “He’s the smart one.” The man in front of me turned around fast and said, “Ain’t that the truth! God help us.”
Tom is smart. Choose a life you can profit from.
Profit—that’s an interesting word. As a business owner, profit is an accounting equation: Income – Expenses = Profit. In life? Spend less than you make, and what’s left over is your profit. But profit is more than money. Fundamentally, it means to gain. And that applies to everything in your life.
Does Money Buy Happiness? Depends.
Popular wisdom says money doesn’t buy happiness. Research says it’s more nuanced.
A 2010 study by Nobel laureates Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton found that emotional well-being tops out at around $75,000 per year. After that, more income doesn’t improve how people feel day-to-day.
Then in 2021, Matthew Killingsworth challenged that. His research showed happiness can keep increasing with income—depending on how it’s used. Maybe it’s not about how much we make, but whether we use it to build a life that matters.
The Profit of Scripture and Action
Building a life that truly matters—now that’s what I’m interested in. Not to preach, but I am who I am, and this is my blog. I read the scriptures every day. Profiting from them is stated. I’ve seen that investment pay far greater dividends than money.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 says:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
1 Nephi 19:22–23 teaches:
“I did read many things unto them…that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer…I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.”
Prophets write to persuade us to repent, change and follow Christ. But the deeper lesson is: everything can profit us, with the right perspective.
On my mission in Taiwan, I learned a Chinese saying: “Heaven helps those who help themselves.” It’s meant to encourage action. I’ve seen that universal truth play out again and again. It’s akin to Newton’s law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Christ taught me this principle when He raised Lazarus. You know the story. John 11. First, “Jesus wept.” A God who weeps with us understands the human condition. He taught me my first steps, He prayed to Father in Heaven, with GRATITUDE and FAITH. Before the miracle—before He raised the dead—He asked the people to do something first.
John 11:39 – Jesus said, “Take ye away the stone.”
John 11:43 – He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”
Could Jesus have moved the stone? Of course. But He asked them to do it. Why? Because they could. He’ll always ask us to do what we can do, then He does what only He can do.
I must do all I can. Then I place my faith in my Savior to make up the difference. That’s true in everything—marriage, fatherhood, business, health, all of it.
Imperfect Work, Infinite Value
I can’t stop change. But I can adapt to it. How can all things be for my profit and learning? By my perspective. By my action. By my willingness to do.
Value creation will shift as our society shifts. Real value may lie not in flawless robotic output, but in imperfect human craftsmanship. Bigger, faster, shinier won’t always mean better. I’ve eaten some incredible food in my life—a guilty pleasure. Give me the surprise dish from a master chef over a recipe executed to perfection by machine.
There will be value in human error. Those who try will win. An advanced intelligence will never give me the satisfaction of work done by my hands. Mating selection with my horses and pigeons, to raising and proving a champion—no technology will ever replace the euphoria of doing it myself. Watching a true master work a horse? That’s more beautiful to me than any painting in the Louvre.
My family needs to take up some gardening and raising meat stock. I’m sure nothing will taste better than what is produced from the sweat of our own brow.
Doing the hard thing. And finishing it. That’s where real growth—and real profit—lives.
Pursuit of Happiness
My hope is that all these changes allow us more fully, to quote our Founding Father’s in the Declaration of Independence: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The liberty to pursue.
Your happiness has been and always will be, your choice. True yesterday. True today. True tomorrow. Universal truth is truth eternal.
“Be not afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:36)
