We stand at the precipice of humanity’s greatest paradox: having conquered energy, knowledge, perception, language, mathematics, robotics, and artificial intelligence, we now face a profound challenge—redefining purpose in a world where time becomes our most precious resource. Yuval Noah Harari once observed that “the most important question of the 21st century is what to do with all the useless people” (Harari, 2018). A more constructive framing might be: what becomes of humanity when traditional notions of usefulness evolve?

History reveals a recurring pattern: abundance spurs new innovations, and necessity drives invention. The Agrarian Revolution turned wild grasses into cereal surpluses, which created demand for tools and techniques to transform raw materials. The Industrial Revolution leveraged fossil fuels to power factories but required railroads and global trade networks to distribute output. Similarly, the Information Revolution digitized human knowledge into big data, which necessitated search algorithms and artificial intelligence to harness it—"data is the new oil.” Each breakthrough addressed a scarcity while introducing new complexities.

Today, we are navigating a cascade of transformations:

• Intelligence Revolution: Machines have mastered human perception (e.g., vision, language) and creativity (e.g., art, coding, speech), creating demand for AI capable of interpreting and acting on data.
• Agentic Revolution: Data-trained AI systems now execute tasks such as booking flights or debugging code, creating demand for robots that translate digital actions into physical reality.
• Autonomous Revolution: Networks of autonomous robots (e.g., drones, humanoids) maintain infrastructure and generate experiential data to fuel self-optimizing systems.

The next decade will likely see agentic systems reduce screen time by automating digital tasks, while humanoid robots eliminate physical drudgery. Laundry will fold itself, meals will appear seamlessly, and cities will maintain themselves. While this might free up time, it risks leaving people feeling purposeless. Human identity has long been tied to productivity and the sense of accomplishment derived from contributing to society. If individuals lose agency in their daily lives, how will they experience success, fulfillment, or satisfaction?

Accomplishment has always been linked to a sense of ownership and impact. Without a clear role in shaping the world, many may feel increasingly disconnected or useless. However, this surplus of time could enable humanity to transcend traditional limits. Freed from the constraints of labour, we can harness technological tools to explore what was once impossible, extending human cognition and consciousness far beyond biological boundaries. By integrating AI and robotics, humans can expand cognitive frontiers by using AI to push the boundaries of imagination and problem-solving, enabling breakthroughs in science, art, and philosophy. They can also augment human potential, leveraging robots and computational power to amplify physical and mental capabilities, creating new forms of achievement and self-expression. Finally, humans can pursue cosmic evolution, extending human consciousness to the universe and beyond, transcending the limitations of sapiens and evolving into new forms of existence.

This profound transformation calls for a cultural shift. Success must be redefined as the ability to explore, create, and contribute in ways that enhance collective and individual flourishing. By embracing the paradox of post-labour existence, humanity can discover fulfillment not in traditional utility but in the boundless possibilities of a new era.

References

• Harari, Y.N. (2018). 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Spiegel & Grau.