We all work for a boss.
I used to rent cars to Uber and Lyft drivers. As a provider of a service, my bosses were my renters.
The algorithm of Uber and Lyft was my boss’s boss. This made me very vulnerable: I was holding assets (dirty old Priuses) at the whims of a computer program I had no leverage over. You can’t get happy hour drinks with an algorithm.
Honestly, an algorithm is an incredibly productive boss: it managed to keep my clients on the road for 15 hour days, averaging 300 miles a day, for less than minimum wage.
My clients would often talk about getting extra points during surge hours. The algorithm gamified making money. It made it addicting.
Algorithms change the rules often to support their bosses (human shareholders). They lack empathy, which means they make more money. The GMAT exam for business school trains testtakers to remain emotionless and make decisions under pressure. Algorithmic bosses don’t have to train for this: it’s coded in their DNA.
Soon, the majority of us will have algorithmic bosses. Influencer culture on Tik Tok and Instagram train kids for this new world. By the time they hit 25, it won’t be weird.
Pros of algorithmic bosses: work on your own schedule. You can make real money. Turns work into game. Cons: shifting standards and salaries without explanation. No HR to complain to. Also, algorithms are better at manipulating you into being content with your current work and your current job than real bosses.
Gamified educational companies train students for this future too. They operate on the premise that education should be an entertainment product. They teach content but they don’t develop restlessness, don’t reward sitting with boredom and ambiguity. They develop satiation, like Tik Tok, like Uber. They recognize that gamified rewards and fake currency hit harder than real currency. Casinos do the same thing with chips.
The pattern I see: gamified education —> tik tok/instragram influencer culture —> first job in an algorithm —> static.
The disdain most people have for their human bosses is a feature of the human-driven work force, not a bug. It allows for motivation to move on to something better, which allows for a select few to become builders themselves.
There may be a world where building itself becomes gamified under the constraints of AI algorithms. These algorithms will allow us to create but only within certain parameters that don’t threaten AI bosses (shareholders). In Venice Beach speak: sure, you can remodel your bathroom but don’t block my ocean view.
It’ll always be possible to build outside of algorithms. The ability to do so will just get a harder. Moats in business context are obstacles. As the moats for building anything get narrower thanks to AI tools eliminating the need for expensive human technical talent, the moat for building important and original things gets wider.
This is why most microbuilders of the future will look inwards — solving specific problems for their specific communities — rather than outwards to appeal to the masses. The algorithm and its shareholders have already captured the masses.
Meanwhile, a new age of builders serving their own communities: this mimics human hunter gatherer origins. Imagine algorithms handling mass issues, humans handling things close to home. You get safety, longevity, abundance and community. This is why algorithm bosses are still a net win.