AI is coming for screen work, and I’m feeling it too

AI is coming for you

The article that finally said the quiet bit out loud

I just read Matt Shumer’s piece in Fortune, “Something big is happening in AI, and most people will be blindsided”. It is one of the clearest descriptions I have seen of what it feels like when the ground moves under knowledge work.

The headline is dramatic, but the point is simple.

If your job happens on a screen, you should assume AI is going to change it, fast.

This is happening to me too

I work in automation and AI. I am not an AI researcher, I am not building foundation models, but I am close enough to see the step changes.

A year ago, AI was useful for drafts and quick analysis.

Now it is increasingly useful for end-to-end outcomes. I can hand it context, define what “good” looks like, and it can produce work that is already close to client-ready. That changes the economics of consulting and delivery. It changes how long things take. It changes what clients should pay for.

It also changes what parts of my own work are actually “me”.

I feel fortunate that I’m closer to AI than most people

This is not virtue, it is exposure.

Because AI is part of my day-to-day, I get early warning. I get time to adjust. I get to experiment while the stakes are still low. I get to help clients adapt before they get hit.

Most people do not have that proximity. Most people will meet this shift when it is already in their workplace, already part of performance expectations, and already reshaping roles.

I’m lucky that I’m (theoretically) at retirement age

This is a strange thought to write down, but it matters.

If AI compresses careers, the timing of where you are on that curve is everything.

Being later in my working life gives me options that a 25-year-old does not have.

• I can choose the work I want to keep doing.
• I can reduce hours and still be okay.
• I can play defence if the market gets volatile.

That does not make the change less real. It just means I can absorb it differently.

I worry about people whose work is “mostly computer”

I am thinking about the people who:

• Spend their day in email, spreadsheets, documents, and dashboards.
• Do coordination, reporting, admin, analysis, customer service, basic design, basic writing.
• Have never had a reason to try AI properly.

The article makes the same point bluntly. A lot of screen-based work is exposed, and not “someday”.

The painful bit is that many people are still judging AI based on the free tools they tried a year or two ago. That is like judging the internet by dial-up.

I worry about my children, and their children

If I zoom out, the question is not “Which jobs get replaced?”

It is “What does a good life look like in a world where cognitive labour is cheap?”
I do not have a neat and tidy answer.

I do have some questions I think we need to ask more openly:

• If entry-level knowledge work shrinks, what replaces it as the starting point to experience?
• If AI can do the first draft of everything, what becomes the value of humans?
• If productivity spikes, who gets the upside?
• What do we teach children, apart from “pass your exams and get a good job”, when that path is no longer stable?

What I’m doing about it (personally and professionally)

I am treating this like a real shift, not a debate.

1. I use AI in real workflows, not as a toy. Not curiosity. Production.
2. I bias toward skills that compound. Systems thinking, problem definition, process design, relationship trust, and clear writing.
3. I help businesses adopt AI safely and practically. Not “AI strategy theatre”. Real workflows. Real outcomes.
4. I keep my financial position flexible. Fewer fixed commitments. More optionality.

A practical takeaway if you read that article and felt uneasy

If your work happens on a screen, do not wait for permission.

• Spend a week using a paid model.
• Put it into one real task you do every week.
• Measure the difference.
• Then decide what you need to learn next.

I’m lucky I’m in my 60’s

I am 61.

That number matters because if we really are entering a period where screen work gets cheaper and faster every month, then being later in my working life is an advantage.

Not because it makes me immune, it does not.

Because it gives me options.

• I can choose the work I want to keep doing.
• I can reduce hours and still be okay.
• I can play defence if, more likely when, the market gets volatile.

I keep thinking about the people who do not have that flexibility, especially people who are early in their careers and have done everything “right” by the old rules.

A discreet ending (if you want to do something with this)

If you want a simple takeaway, start adopting AI now, because the window for being early closes quietly, then all at once.

If you run a business where a lot of value is created on a screen, and you want to adapt without turning your company into an AI science project, that is the kind of work I do.

If you want, start by replying to me with one sentence:

“What are the 3 workflows in my business most exposed to AI?”

I will point you to a practical first step.

(Reference: Matt Shumer, Fortune, “Something big is happening in AI, and most people will be blindsided”, Feb 11, 2026.)