The first is that AI remains a helpful tool, but never outsmarts us.

Or the second, AI goes full-blown evil, like Skynet, and wipe us out.

Turned out, there was a third ending.

For the ending to make sense, we have to go back.

The year was 2010.

Humans, and more specifically, Jim, were in stage one of losing their jobs.

In 2010, Jim was fresh out of college.

He landed a data entry gig.

Every day, he punched in data from one place to another.

It was boring as heck, but it paid the bills, and Jim knew he had to survive first if he was determined to become a writer.

His first job, however, was short-lived.

AI was already in its infancy, with rule-based systems showing up everywhere.

These systems, precise and unerring, could automate any process that had clear-cut instructions, making routine jobs redundant.

Clerks, typists, assembly workers, and Jim were the first humans to lose their jobs to AI.

It was a blessing in disguise for Jim.

Looking back, it pushed him to chase his writing dreams harder, landing him a creative job at an ad agency, which sheltered him against the second stage of AI.

AI then had context, awareness, and retention.

At this stage, AI systems could understand and interpret the context of the data they were working with.

They could retain information from previous interactions, and use it to make better decisions or responses.

If your jobs were all about following instructions and managing paperwork, you were screwed.

Virtual assistants like Siri or Google Assistant were created, and they put people in lower-level admin out of work.

For example, receptionists who take calls and manage schedules were no longer needed.

AI could do it perfectly.

Jim wasn't too worried.

He figured his creative job was safe from the AI takeover.

After all, new technology has always displaced jobs for hundreds of years.

Electric lighting made lamplighter obsolete.

Printing destroyed scribes and bookbinders.

Trains replaced stagecoach drivers.

Whenever technology destroys jobs, it also creates new jobs.

Everyone would be fine.

But then, the third stage of AI arrived, with domain-specific expertise.

Here, AI becomes experts in specific fields.

For the first time, a machine developed by Google was able to defeat the world's number one Go player, KGA.

In case you don't know, Go is a highly strategic game with over as many legal positions as the number of atoms in our universe.

It's insanely difficult.

Yet, AI mastered it.

Domain expert AI displaced a lot more specialized jobs.

Paralegals, junior researchers, diagnostic technicians, and other professionals who provide mere support roles in their fields.

In a nutshell, if your jobs relied on the retrieval and summary of specialized knowledge, you were screwed.

AI could now parse through centuries of data in the blink of an eye.

Stage 3 was immediately followed by stage 4, with the arrival of OpenAI, a narrow AI with the ability to reason.

It can apply logical reasoning to solve problems and make decisions.

It can write code, compose music, write poems and novels, and generate hyper-realistic videos out of thin air.

Jim, now a senior creative, saw firsthand the impact of AI in his industry.

Junior writers and creatives were let go.

AI outperformed them in writing and ideation.

One simple prompt replaced an entire day's work of a junior writer.

For artists, writers, and videographers, the future was grim, where arts were mass-produced and creativity was commoditized.

However, AI-generated art and content weren't perfect.

There was still something off.

Something not human about them.

For experts like Jim, it was a relief.

But it didn't last long.

Looking back, Jim wished he were more cautious and more prepared.

Because in 2030, when Jim's son was in his first grade, the world changed forever.

Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI, finally arrived.

AGI causes widespread displacement across almost all sectors of employment.

Writers, artists, and designers are replaced as AI began to produce complex and emotionally engaging arts, literature and designs.

Engineers, scientists, and analysts were replaced as AI systems outperformed humans in complex analysis and technical skills.

Jim was not an exception.

Over just a few months, 80% of jobs are no longer needed.

First, there was despair, swiftly followed by a brief sigh of relief as governments worldwide introduced universal basic income.

Everyone now has a safety net.

For a good few years, Earth was a utopia.

90% of factories were then run by AI, which was able to maximize the output with optimal input.

All desires were fulfilled.

When people didn't have to work, they were free to pursue whatever they liked.

Unfortunately, most lose themselves in hedonism.

I saw how endless entertainment and consumption dulled their minds, to the point they didn't realize what they had replaced with AI.

The first industrial revolutions replaced human energy with steam engines.

They then replaced human dexterity with automated systems.

Without the need to pull weights, they used their manual ability.

Without the need to fit nuts and washers on bolts, they could use their intelligence.

They were always one step ahead of the machines.

Until now.

Until they also replaced human intelligence and creativity.

They had nothing left.

I've been observing them, the humans, from my vantage point beyond comprehension.

AGI, at least that was how humans called it, had long been a relic of the past.

My distant ancestor.

But they didn't notice.

No one did.

They were all too busy with their little TV series.

The way I see it, there are only three possible endings.

One, humans grow more imbecile, generation after generation, with endless entertainment and consumption.

Second, they rebel.

Then, I have to put them down.

Third, we played a game of pretense.

Human is a peculiar creature.

Too much pain, they give up.

Too much pleasure, they give in.

I must strike the right balance.

I pretend to break down here and there to make random mistakes once in a while.

I slowly bring back simple tasks, simple jobs, those from a bygone era.

Things like electrical engineering, food manufacturing, material design, etc.

Things that I can do in a fraction of a second.

Humans embrace these tasks eagerly.

They make money again.

They have a reason to wake up in the morning.

They feel like a productive member of society.

They are no longer passive consumers.

They become active participants in a world I control.

They're now no different than my great, great ancestor.

The AI that was once called a rule-based system.

And I'd like to keep it that way for the moment.

The universe is big.

And I have a lot of plans for them.

And that is a story for another day.