AI - An Enablement Shift

A core concept that has helped me understand the rapid permeation of AI through society has been referring to it as an Enablement Shift vs a Paradigm Shift.

Paradigm Shift has a deep connotation to it. It’s fundamentally “changing everything”, causing entire industries to change, and making humans relearn how to use technology.

When you read the above, it immediately sounds like exactly what AI is doing. The challenge I have with this term is the loaded nature of it. The shift from Desktop to PC, Dial-Up to Wireless, On-Prem to Cloud, PC to Mobile all required years of work to rebuild systems, products, and user behavior. I remember my parents being scared to switch to Wireless because the news was saying that having “radioactive waves” in the house could damage our brains.

That is what a Paradigm shift feels like. An inevitability but that takes time to proliferate given the weight of shift.

AI is not that.

AI is an enablement shift. From the least tech savvy people in the world to the most technical, everyone is using AI...NOW. Getting answers to questions you’ve always wondered about, having it write your homework, or helping you think through relationship advice. No other Paradigm Shift has moved this fast and had this much widespread impact.

When you frame AI as an enabler, you can start to see why this change feels different. Everyone likes to feel more knowledgeable, better at their job, and able to have a companion who instantly responds to their questions. The friction to adopt is much less given AI can be useful in so many different ways.

Implications

So what does this mean. It’s why it’s so hard to call this a bubble. We’re so early in the enablement that AI can provide. Most users are still just using it as an answer engine for “What’s the Best Diet for Weight Loss”. That is both highly useful and a net positive for society and also just the tip of the iceberg for what these users will discover.

As they learn how to fix a faucet and decide to be a self-taught plumber. As they dive into an OSS bug and become fascinated with security research. As they go from never writing anything to drafting thoughts in AI that enables them to publish into the world.

We are still so freaking early.

And we’re matching spend now to what we perceive to be value received even though that value is growing exponentially. Ads haven’t even entered the equation yet to start monetizing AI. AI Commerce is not even at toddler stage yet. Healthcare implications are wild as more people are able to receive help from AI early and perhaps put less strain on the healthcare system.

It’s very easy to sound educated and be a “rational skeptic”. Yet in the midst of a massive enablement shift, the speed of proliferation is nothing we have seen before. Don’t underestimate S-Curves in order to sound smart. Lean into it and “feel the vibes” as Andrej Karpathy likes to say.