Please Remain Human: Your Job Depends on It
In college, I had to read Bartleby, the Scrivener, a short story by Herman Melville.
I hated it.
Not in the way you hate eating broccoli because you know its good for you—but in the way you hate a book that feels like being trapped in the back seat of a car on a never-ending road trip, staring out the window and repeatedly asking, Are we there yet?
Bartleby was a law copyist, which in the 1800s made him the artisanal, small-batch version of a Xerox machine. His entire job was to copy legal documents by hand—tedious, soul-sucking work, but at least it was a paycheck. And then, just as he settled into his life of inky fingers and chronic eye strain, technology advanced. Newer, faster methods of producing documents emerged, and suddenly, Bartleby’s one skill—the thing that made him useful—became obsolete. His employer didn’t fire him out of malice; he just didn’t need him anymore. And instead of learning a new trade or picking up a side hustle, Bartleby simply stood there, as if waiting for the world to change its mind. It didn’t. It never does. And eventually, Bartleby, like an old fax machine shoved into the corner, faded into irrelevance, waiting for someone to finally wheel him away.
Today, we are all Bartleby.
For years, the conversation about AI revolved around automation—how machines would take over repetitive, predictable tasks, freeing humans to do more complex, creative work. But that assumption no longer holds. With the rise of agentive AI—technology that doesn’t just assist but actively makes decisions, learns, and adapts—AI won’t just replace the mundane. It will replace roles we once believed were untouchable.
If your job is defined by efficiency, optimization, processing, or analyzing large amounts of information quickly, AI will outperform you. That’s not a prediction. It’s a certainty.
AI can now draft legal documents in seconds, analyze financial risks with superhuman accuracy, and diagnose medical conditions based on millions of data points that no doctor could process in a lifetime. It will replace junior attorneys, financial analysts, radiologists, and many others in roles once considered too “expert” for automation. Just like Bartleby, these professionals will face a moment of reckoning: adapt or fade away.
And here’s the thing—we keep telling ourselves AI is just a tool, but it’s not. It’s our competition. And if we try to beat it at its game—speed, efficiency, precision—we will lose. Ask Garry Kasparov, who tried to defeat Deep Blue at chess. Ask Ken Jennings,who tried to outsmart Watson at Jeopardy.
But that doesn’t mean all jobs will disappear. It means the nature of work will change. The most valuable professionals will be those who provide what AI cannot: human connection, emotional understanding, meaning-making, ethical judgment, and curiosity.
Take teachers, for example. AI can deliver lessons, personalize learning plans, and track student progress with unmatched precision. But it won’t understand the subtle signs of a child struggling at home. It won’t recognize when a student is disengaged not because they don’t understand the material, but because they’re afraid of failing. The best teachers of the future won’t be those who know the most facts, but those who can use their human skills—empathy, intuition, encouragement—to guide and develop students in ways no algorithm can.
The same is true in medicine. AI will handle diagnostics, suggest treatment plans, and even conduct robotic surgeries. But patients won’t want to hear life-altering news from a screen. They will still need doctors who can sit beside them, explain complex conditions with care, and provide comfort in moments of fear. The best doctors won’t be the ones with the fastest diagnoses but those who can make their patients feel seen, heard, and understood.
In law, AI will draft contracts, conduct legal research, and predict case outcomes with astonishing accuracy. But clients facing a lawsuit, a divorce, or a wrongful conviction won’t just need data—they’ll need advocacy, reassurance, and strategic thinking that goes beyond algorithms. The best lawyers won’t be those who memorize case law, but those who can persuade, negotiate, and emotionally connect with clients, juries, and judges.
The same shift is coming for web designers, engineers, and social media consultants. AI is already generating websites, coding applications, and running optimized ad campaigns without human intervention. If you define yourself by the tasks you complete, you’re at risk. If you define yourself by the human value you bring, you’ll remain irreplaceable.
I see it happening with my own work. I lose speaking engagements to AI experts all the time. Conferences offer workshops titled “Integrating AI” and “Mastering AI.” Executives read articles with headlines like “Employees Are Already Using AI. How Can Leaders Catch Up?” We are going all in on the things that will replace us and ignoring the things that make us unique. I get it. AI is exciting. It’s efficient. It’s the future.
But where are the workshops on being better humans? Where are the leadership summits on developing empathy, curiosity, or ethical reasoning? Where is the corporate training on how to connect with people in ways AI never will? If the future of work belongs to those who can offer what machines cannot, why are we so fixated on training ourselves to compete with them instead of strengthening the skills that make us different from them?
The challenge isn’t learning how to use AI. It’s learning how to be more human.