The AI Era: Work That Holds Value—What Remains in the End Is Not Knowledge, but the "Decision Maker"
*This article is Chapter 10 of the Structure Hub
[Definitive Edition] The True Nature of Japan, the Nation of Effort—The Silent Terror of a Society That Doesn't Decide in the AI Era
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In the previous chapter, we looked at the structure of an evaluation-based society.
The number of people who make decisions is decreasing, while the number of people who evaluate is increasing.
Explanations are increasing.
Discussions are also increasing.
However, decisions are not increasing.
As a result, society is slowly regressing despite the amount of effort put in.
This was the structure of an evaluation-based society.
However, another change has begun to occur within this structure.
This is because the work of evaluating is
rapidly becoming replaceable.
That is the arrival of AI.
1 | What AI Excels At
AI can process many tasks at high speed.
Gathering information.
Organizing it.
Comparing it.
Analyzing it.
In other words, AI is
very good at the work of the evaluation layer.
This is no coincidence.
Because the act of evaluation is
the work of organizing information,
finding patterns,
and putting them into words.
And that is the domain where AI excels the most.
2 | AI's Processing Power
What is even more important is that
AI's processing power is incomparable to that of humans.
AI operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
It does not get tired.
It does not need breaks.
Moreover,
the amount of information it can process is beyond comparison to humans.
・Handling vast amounts of data simultaneously
・Analyzing across multiple specialized fields
・Instantly referencing information from around the world
In other words, AI is an entity that can
process evaluation tasks more broadly, deeply, quickly, and cheaply
than humans.
3 | The Value of Explanation Changes
In an evaluation-based society,
people who can explain,
people who can analyze,
people who can provide commentary
tended to hold value.
However, as AI becomes widespread, this structure begins to change.
This is becauseAI can handle explanations.
Organizing information.
Summarizing key points.
Listing risks.
AI is better atthese types of tasks.
4 | The Value of Knowledge Also Changes
AI can handle vast amounts of knowledge.
If you ask a question,
information appears immediately.
It is also explained in an organized format.
In this situation,the value of knowledge itself also changes.
Until now, in society,
people who possessed a lot of knowledge
and people who knew information
held value.
However, AI can instantly reference vast amounts of knowledge.
These kinds of actions are
starting to become something anyone can do.
Furthermore, even in human society to begin with,
people who 'possess' knowledge and
people who can 'handle' knowledge
were different entities.
Reading a book and knowing something.
Knowing information.
However, using that to make a judgment.
Applying it according to the situation.
In reality, there are not that many people who can go that far.
In other words, between having knowledge and
being able to use knowledge,
there was already a large gap to begin with.
There are many people who know knowledge.
However, there are not that many people who can make judgments using knowledge.
AI will widen that gap even further.
This is because AI
not only 'knows' knowledge,
but can also 'handle' knowledge.
And,
the value of knowledge itself is starting to decline relatively.
5 | The Shift of Value
Value in society always shifts little by little.
What was once valuable changes due to technology.
Because of AI, many of the abilities that were previously considered valuable
are starting to become less special than they used to be.
This is not just about efficiency.
It means that the work of the evaluation layer itself
is starting to be structurally replaced.
It means that much of the intellectual labor previously performed by humans
is starting to become an area better suited for AI.
6 | The Work That Remains in the End
So, what will remain in a society where AI spreads?
AI does not make decisions.
AI can provide options.
It can also make comparisons.
It can also analyze risks.
However, in the end, it does not make the final judgment of
'we will go with this.'
This is because AI is an analytical tool,
not a decision-making tool.
7 | The Weight of Decision-Making
So, what does it mean to decide?
Decision-making is not information processing.
It is the act of taking responsibility for future outcomes.
To decide also means:
・Someone benefits
・Someone feels dissatisfied
・Risk arises somewhere
It is also about accepting the possibility of these outcomes.
In other words, a decision is the acceptance of responsibility.
8 | The Role That Remains in the End
Here, the structure becomes clear.
In the AI era, evaluation is done by AI.
Knowledge is also organized by AI.
As a result, many roles that previously held value
are beginning to change rapidly.
And the role that remains in the end is the decision maker.
Acts that were previously avoided
are becoming the most valuable acts.
9 | The Decision-Making Revolution
There is one major misunderstanding here.
In the modern era, various issues such as AI dependency have been pointed out.
However, that is not the essence of the matter.
AI is not automatically running society.
ChatGPT, Claude, and other AIs also
operate according to set premises.
Someone sets the rules.
Someone decides the criteria for judgment.
Someone decides, 'We will go in this direction.'
Under those settings, AI makes judgments within society.
In other words,
the decision-making of the person who designed the AI
ends up designing the atmosphere of society.
We have lived in an atmosphere decided by someone else
in many cases until now.
Schools, companies, and society—even if it seems like we are deciding for ourselves,
there are many situations where we are just following the atmosphere.
AI is
a technology that extends someone's decision-making.
AI does not decide society.
The judgment of the person who designed the AI simply spreads through society.
If the number of people who do not decide for themselves increases, society becomes like this.
Decision maker
↓
AI settings
↓
Design of evaluation criteria
↓
Social rules
↓
Many people follow
In short,
those who do not decide become people who are decided for by others.
The AI era is an era where decision-making is extended.
The essence of the AI era is not an AI revolution.
It is a decision-making revolution.
10 | The True Fear
Many people fear the evolution of AI.
However, that is not what should truly be feared.
Have you not also
had an experience like this at least once?
Everyone is excited.
Everyone is looking in the same direction.
But you alone,
'Wait, is this really okay?'
a moment when you feel that.
Yet, you cannot say anything in that moment.
You don't want to ruin the mood.
You don't want to stand out.
You don't want to deal with any trouble.
And so, you just go along with the flow.
Many events in society
happen through the accumulation of these small silences.
It starts at first
'Everyone is saying so'
'Well, that's the vibe, isn't it'
'It can't be helped'
with a state like that.
The crowd gets excited.
Anger spreads.
An atmosphere that makes someone an enemy is born.
By the time you realize it, it has become a flow that no one can stop.
And later on, many people say this:
'I never thought it would turn out like this.'
But in reality, it is the result of many people not deciding for themselves and following the atmosphere instead.
The atmosphere is not something that is born naturally.
Someone starts saying it, someone agrees, and someone spreads it.
Through that accumulation, the atmosphere of society is born.
And before we know it, we are also on the side of creating that atmosphere.
The problem is not that power exists.
In every era, there are those who decide.
Many of history's tragedies
did not happen because there were many bad people.
They happened because there were many people who would not decide.
The future will not be ruled by violence.
It will be decided in a much quieter way.
The criteria for judgment decided by someone
will spread throughout society more than ever before due to AI.
That will become the atmosphere of society.
We will come to live thinking of that asthe 'norm'.And that common sense
might turn around and criticize you.
might turn around and criticize you.
It is not AI that moves history.
It is the crowd.
It is not AI that is scary.
A society that does not decide is scary.
If you do not decide for yourself,
you will end up living in a world decided by someone else.
And that 'someone' is
not necessarily on your side.
*This 'decision-making by atmosphere' also
frequently occurs in organizational meetings.
Here is an article organized based on actual conversations.
Conclusion
AI will further accelerate evaluation and analysis.
AI is becoming capable of handling much of the work in the evaluation layer,
and the scarcity of knowledge is also beginning to drop rapidly.
The value structure of society is quietly beginning to shift.
As a result, society will once again have to face the act of
decision-making.
AI makes judgments faster.
However,the number of people who make decisions does not increase.
AI does not replace decision-making.
It only expands decision-making.
At that point, the final remaining question is this.
So, who decides?
If the number of people who do not decide increases,
it will become a society where
many people are forced to follow the society set by those who do decide.
In the society of the future, this question cannot be avoided.
And in the next chapter, we will take one step further into this question.
Why are thereso few people who decide?
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🔁 Click here for the overall structure
[Archived Edition] The True Nature of Japan, the Nation of Effort—The Silent Terror of a Society That Doesn't Decide in the AI Era
1️⃣ I feel unfulfilled somehow. What is happiness?
▶ The reason why 'I should be fine with this' never goes away
2️⃣I don't know if I should keep working like this
▶ In the AI era, 'people who don't decide' will come to a standstill
3️⃣Even when I feel relieved, I return to anxiety again
▶ The true nature of a design where 'not enough' never ends
4️⃣Why do I feel tired after talking to people?
▶ The real reason why conversations don't click
🪞 When you're thinking but not making progress
If you keep thinking while off-track,
no matter how much you think, you won't move forward.
▶ Identify where you went off-track with that problem in 15 minutes