Will AI Make Life Better for Everyone

or Just the Lucky Few?

“Cool, now what?” That’s the question Packy McCormick poses at the heart of his recent essay, Means and Meaning. It’s a clever turn of phrase that captures a central tension of our time: We have more tools, more time-saving devices, more access to knowledge and automation than ever before. But are we any closer to lives of meaning, purpose, and satisfaction?

McCormick suggests that as AI and other technologies multiply our “means,” the real challenge becomes creating our own meaning. That may be true—for him and people like him. But for a large portion of the population, that question comes with a much heavier burden. Because the benefits of technology aren’t falling evenly. In fact, the gap between those with access, awareness, and opportunity—and those without—is getting wider.

So while some people are busy optimizing their workflows with AI or rediscovering contemplative leisure, others are just trying to hold onto their jobs, stay digitally literate, and maintain a sense of relevance in a world that seems increasingly designed without them in mind.

Who Really Benefits from All This Tech?

Let’s take a step back.

Yes, AI is rapidly transforming the workplace. At the top end, knowledge workers are already using tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and GitHub Copilot to automate tasks, draft proposals, write code, and even generate marketing campaigns. Financial professionals are using BloombergGPT to extract insights from market data faster than any analyst ever could.

In these spaces, AI becomes a force multiplier. It’s not replacing people—it’s enhancing them. But that’s not what it looks like across the board.

If you’re a home health aide, a warehouse worker, a janitor, a delivery driver, or a caregiver holding down two jobs, you’re likely not seeing much of that upside. AI isn’t a co-pilot in your work—it’s often a replacement in waiting, or worse, a black box that makes your job more opaque and less secure. Algorithmic scheduling, performance scoring, and unpredictable platform policies define much of the “tech-enabled” labor experience at the bottom.

McCormick calls attention our most valuable resource. But attention—like leisure—requires capacity. And that capacity is not equally distributed.

Automation: Freedom or Instability?

One of the central promises of AI is automation. We’re told it will free us from drudgery. And in some cases, that’s already happening. But we’re also watching it dismantle roles across both manual and professional domains.

Consider trucking. Autonomous driving, once science fiction, is becoming logistics reality. Tesla’s camera-based model may not be fully road-ready yet, but the direction is clear. Unlike robotaxis in dense urban zones, long-haul trucking operates in open environments—interstate highways, controlled routes, and predictable conditions. These are ideal testing grounds for AI-assisted vehicles. If it works, it could mean 3–4 million trucking jobs in the U.S. alone are on the clock.

This isn’t just a blue-collar problem. AI is increasingly able to handle document review for lawyers, generate diagnostic summaries for radiologists, and write first drafts of marketing pitches or financial analyses. In a world where AI can do 80% of many jobs, the open question is: what happens to the people who used to do that 80%?

Do they find better, more meaningful work? Or do they get pushed into a cycle of low-wage, low-security jobs that resist automation only because they’re too messy, too human, or too underpaid to be worth automating?

We may be trading one kind of drudgery for another—with less dignity attached.

A Blind Spot in the AI Optimism Narrative

McCormick’s essay is thoughtful, even poetic at times. He quotes DFW, invokes Ramanujan, and sketches a future where the truly important work is paying attention and choosing meaning over mindless consumption. But like many techno-optimist pieces, it floats above ground level.

What’s missing is a reckoning with the unequal terrain of access and inclusion. His essay asks: “What should we do with our freedom?”
But for many, the more relevant question is: “Where is my freedom in this?”

That isn’t just a rhetorical jab. It’s a practical concern. Access to AI tools assumes:

• A decent internet connection
• Some baseline digital literacy
• Time to experiment and learn
• And often, disposable income to subscribe to services

None of these are givens. Especially for older adults, people working multiple jobs, those with limited education, or individuals in underserved communities.

Technology That Builds Meaning—For All

But what if we flipped the lens? What if, instead of assuming that tech benefits eventually trickle down, we designed AI to uplift the underserved first?

There’s real potential here:

• Voice-activated elder companions like ElliQ or AI-powered medication reminders could help aging adults retain independence and reduce isolation.
• Fraud detection AIs could monitor financial transactions and catch common scams targeting seniors and low-income individuals.
• Learning tools could help adult workers upskill, even with limited literacy, through multimodal interaction.
• Scheduling support for gig workers could reduce burnout and make erratic platform work more manageable.
• Accessible interfaces—simplified, voice-driven, personalized—could bridge the tech gap for those who’ve felt left behind in the digital shift.

This isn’t a fantasy. These tools are emerging. The question is whether we’ll prioritize them.

From Means to Meaning: The Work Ahead

We don’t need more essays urging people to pay attention. We need systems that make attention possible in the first place. We need technologies that don’t just serve those already privileged with time, money, and education—but that actively expand the circle of benefit.

Packy McCormick is right: we’ll keep asking “Cool, now what?” as our means grow. But until we answer a harder question—“Cool, for whom?”—we’ll remain trapped in a cycle where technology accelerates but society fractures.

Meaning doesn’t trickle down. It must be invited, enabled, and built—person by person, tool by tool.1

Let’s make sure AI doesn’t just serve the few who already have the luxury to ask big questions. Let’s make it work for those who are still waiting for the benefits of this revolution to reach their doorstep.

Read the whole article here it’s long!

Facebook Twitter Youtube