A Book That Answers the Anxiety of 'Having Your Job Taken by AI'—A Review of 'Society Expanded by AI' by NRI

“What will happen to my job once AI becomes widespread?”

I imagine you have felt that vague anxiety at least once.

“Society Expanded by AI: A Future Map of 'Intelligence,' 'Labor,' and 'Economy'” (Toyo Keizai Inc.), written by the Nomura Research Institute (NRI), is a book that takes a step beyond the common “threat theory.”

It depicts the near future of the 2030s from the perspective of “how will AI expand human potential” rather than “will AI take away human jobs.” It was a rare business book that left me feeling genuinely positive after finishing it.

In this article, I will introduce the three core keywords of the book and the implications for “future careers.”

Three keywords to understand this book

There are three important concepts in this book for thinking about the future. Let’s look at them in order.

1. The “+AI” way of working that enhances human capabilities

What this book consistently advocates is not “AI vs. human conflict” but “AI and human co-creation.”

It argues that a style where every professional has AI as a partner—such as “Coder + AI” for programming or “Dr + AI” for medicine—will become the standard.

What is interesting is the discussion that follows. It is written that if AI’s “conversational ability” evolves further, it will eventually become possible for humans to expand their intelligence in unprecedented ways, such as communicating with animals and nature through AI. It sounds like science fiction, but considering current technological trends, I felt it was not necessarily a pipe dream.

2. The “Creative Society” that comes after the “Information Society”

There is a prediction that NRI has been advocating since the 1990s. It is a bold assessment that “after the information society, there will be a creative society where the brain is expanded.”

The book analyzes that this prediction is finally becoming a reality with the advent of generative AI.

The source of value is shifting completely from “having information (search ability)” to “what to create anew using AI (creativity)”—in other words, such a society is just around the corner.

3. The new economic mechanism: “Economy of Depth”

This is the concept I found most interesting in the book.

The digital economy until now has been dominated by the “economy of breadth (network effects),” which reaches more people widely. GAFA is the symbol of this.

However, the book predicts that a completely different economic mechanism will emerge due to AI. That is the “economy of depth”—a mechanism that builds a competitive advantage by thoroughly digging into the needs of each individual customer and providing hyper-personalized value.

I will explain this in detail in the next section.

What is the 'Economy of Depth'?—A 180-degree shift in how value is created

In a nutshell, the 'Economy of Depth' is an economic mechanism where the competition is decided by how deeply and intensely you can satisfy a single customer or a single narrow domain.

As the cost of not just 'replication' but also 'individual customization' approaches zero due to AI, the following types of businesses will become reality.

① Education: A '24-hour personal tutor' for the only one in the world

Previously, the best one could do was record a famous lecturer's class and distribute it online to tens of thousands of people. However, in the 'Economy of Depth,' an AI teacher fully understands the child's 'stumbling blocks,' 'current level of concentration,' and 'hobbies.' For a child who likes soccer, it will continue to explain using soccer analogies, changing the patterns as many times as needed until the child understands.

② Healthcare: Your own 'resident primary care physician'

We are moving from an era of general health information sites and one-size-fits-all diet apps to an era where AI, having learned from your wearable device's vital data, past medical history, genetic information, and today's meals, continues to provide suggestions optimized only for you in the world.

③ B2B Business: A dedicated consultant who knows all the internal company affairs

We are moving from an era of selling general-purpose software packages to an era where AI, having learned from all meeting minutes since the company's founding, the skills of all employees, and all past sales negotiations, makes proposals that understand the company's context, just like a 'veteran executive who has worked for 20 years.'

Why is this a 'new economy'? In traditional economics, providing thorough individual support was impossible to scale because labor costs were too high. AI realizes that 'depth' and 'breadth' simultaneously. This book predicts that the 'depth of relationship' with customers itself will become a company's greatest asset.

The 'Light' and 'Shadow' of this book—An honest review

👍 What's great here

Grounded future predictions: Rather than a distant, sci-fi future, it targets the 'reachable future' of the 2030s, making it easy to use as a reference for your own business strategy and career.

Data-backed: It is rich in NRI's unique surveys and statistical data, such as AI adoption rates by companies and usage status by business characteristics, which is persuasive. This is a strength unique to a think tank.

Sincere mention of risks: It devotes solid chapters to social issues brought about by the expansion of intelligence, such as 'hallucinations' (a phenomenon where AI speaks information that differs from facts with confidence), addiction, and the spread of misinformation, making it well-balanced. It draws a line from self-help books that only depict a bright future.

👎 This part may be a matter of taste

A bit textbook-like: Because it is based on think tank reports, the writing is smart and formal overall. For those who want to know the 'gritty passion of the development field' or 'specific tool usage' behind the technology, it might feel a bit too abstract.

Careers and skills to survive the 'Economy of Depth' era

Based on the contents of this book, I will narrow down to three things required of future business people.

1. Ability to understand and define context

If you give AI generic instructions, it will only return generic answers. The ability to accurately understand and appropriately input complex contexts—such as 'a client's unique circumstances,' 'industry tacit knowledge,' and 'internal company relationships'—into AI will be the decisive difference from now on.

2. 'Problem-finding ability' and the power to formulate questions

While AI can produce 'answers' in an instant, it cannot find high-quality questions like 'what should be solved?' People who can sense customer frustrations or societal distortions that no one else has noticed, and who can take the lead by saying 'let's solve this,' will create value in the coming era.

We are witnessing a paradigm shift: from an era where people who quickly provided correct answers to given problems were considered excellent, to an era where people who can re-question 'is this even the right problem to begin with?' are considered excellent.

3. Emotional empathy and the ability to build trust

In the 'economy of depth,' it is necessary to delve into the deep parts of a customer (their true intentions/data). Ultimately, it is not a machine, but a trustworthy human being that makes someone feel, 'I am willing to disclose my deep information to this person.' The 'last mile' of human ability—gaining agreement by empathizing with the other party's emotions regarding the optimal solution derived by AI—will become even more important.

Career perspective: Sharpening your edge through 'skill multiplication'

It is important to have one or two overwhelming areas of expertise that assume '+AI.' It is not just being a 'marketer,' but 'someone who can execute B2B marketing for medical startups deeper and faster than anyone else by fully utilizing generative AI'—the image is to sharpen your value through the multiplication of job function × industry × AI.

Also, the cost of turning ideas into reality has become almost zero thanks to AI. Rather than 'someone who spends three months carefully preparing,' those who can cycle through 'using AI to shape it in three days, seeing the market reaction, and immediately correcting it' with an overwhelming number of attempts will be the ones who grow.

Summary: Who should read this book?

This is a book especially recommended for business professionals who have vague anxieties about 'maybe my job will be taken by AI,' as well as management and planning staff who are developing future business strategies.

If I were to express the most positive message of this book in one sentence, it would be this:

This is not just a trend-explaining book, but a business primer perfect for grasping the 'big picture (macro perspective)' of how capitalism and social structures will change. It is a book I would like everyone thinking about their career or business strategy in the AI era to pick up.