I read a rather intense article the other day and I could feel my heart rate rise. It was because the author, Matt Shumer, was honest in a way most of us aren’t when we talk about AI.
The piece, titled "Something Big Is Happening" has gone viral for its blunt framing: AI isn’t coming someday. It’s here. For a lot of knowledge work, it’s already doing things we used to think only humans could do.
Shumer compares this moment to February 2020, right before the world shut down for Covid. Back then, many people thought the warnings were overblown until everything changed in a matter of weeks. He argues AI feels like that right now.
And here’s what gave me pause: People aren’t just worried about tools anymore. They’re worried about identity.
The Tension: Efficiency vs. Identity
Managers are living this tension every day:
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- AI promises efficiency, insight, and speed.
- People worry it might replace their why and their purpose.
- Teams debate using AI to optimize work while they fear it will make their craft and, by extension them, obsolete.
This isn’t abstract fear; it’s real people asking: “If AI can do the critical thinking, the writing, the coding, the creative synthesis, what’s my role?”
They’re not wrong to ask it.
What This “Something Big” Means for Managers
We’ve reached a point where the conversation around AI needs to shift from hype to preparation. Models today can perform multi-step reasoning and execute end-to-end tasks. That changes the game across legal, finance, marketing, engineering, content, you name it.
The fear is that AI is getting very good.
When AI begins to replicate core aspects of what we do, identity questions follow naturally. It’s not enough to teach AI proficiency or drive adoption of the tools you’ve invested in. We have to help people hold two truths at once:
• AI can boost performance.
• AI does not, and should not, define human worth.
Human-Centered Guardrails: What Managers Can Do Today
Here’s the crux: the tension isn’t really between people and technology. It’s between fear and agency. The bridge between them is leadership centered on human potential. If we want these changes to be done with people and not to them, we have to lead differently.
Normalize Ambivalence
People can be curious and scared at the same time. Encourage both by asking:
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- What part of your work do you hope AI can amplify?
- What part feels human, sacred, and irreplaceable?
That opens real conversation. For me, I solve complex problems for a living. I love seeing the chessboard. AI helps me see the board faster. It gives me leverage and buys me time.
But the sacred part? It’s when I look someone in the eye and see what they’re not saying. It’s the executive quietly doubting a decision that could put the company at risk. It’s the emerging leader who needs someone to believe in them before they believe in themselves.
AI can generate content, but it can’t sit in discomfort with another human. AI can synthesize insight and even simulate judgment, but it can’t truly decide when to push and when to pause.
AI does not feel. It is not empathetic. It is not loyal. It does not build human relationships. You do.
Build Shared Guardrails Together
AI is exceptional at pattern recognition and generation. But it’s still rooted in the context, ethics, and purpose we bring to it. So build guardrails that protect and elevate those human capacities. Guardrails don’t have to be walls, but compasses. Ask together:
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- When is AI appropriate to use?
- When is human judgment preferred?
- How do we ensure transparency in AI-generated work?
- How might we reimagine careers and growth with AI at our side?
Standards like these give people agency. Don’t just talk about them; write them down.
If a team believes their value is solely in producing X, Y, or Z, they’ll fear tools that produce X, Y, or Z faster. The leaders who navigate this well will reinforce a self-leadership mindset to help people see themselves as owners, proactive decision-makers, and contributors of judgment. That shift in power changes everything.
AI isn’t some external force that steals jobs. It’s a mirror that shows us what we’ve chosen to value in work. If managers only focused on output, it would be difficult to see where the human is in the loop. But if we focus on cultivating confidence, purpose, resilience, creativity, and trust, the real value of the heart of human achievement is possible.
Final Thought
We won’t manage this moment by pretending nothing big is happening. And we won’t manage it by assuming AI will do it all for us. We’ll manage it by holding the tension:
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- Refuse to let efficiency become the new definition of worth.
- Let machines handle more execution and raise the bar on critical thinking and human judgment.
- And never outsource meaning to a machine.
Technology may change how we work. But it should never erase who we are.
*“Something Big Is Happening,” by Matt Shumer
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