Doomers and Boomers in the evolutionary AI leap forward

CULTURE & CODE

By Joey Briones

Anybody here familiar with 16 Psyche?

If not, it’s a mineral-rich asteroid drifting in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, worth an almost incomprehensible USD 10,000 quadrillion. That’s enough to make every person on earth a billionaire and rewrite the global economy many times over.

But it’s not actually about the money. If we could mine it, humanity would gain resources to fuel centuries more of advancement in the shortest time possible.

Here’s the catch: we can’t get there with the tools we have today. To reach Psyche, to colonize Mars, to build human outposts on the moons of Jupiter, we need something more than what we have now. We need intelligence that can scale beyond the limits of the human capability today.

We need Artificial Intelligence.

This is where the conversation splits.

On one end are the Doomers — those who believe AI will be our undoing, the first chapter in a Terminator-style collapse where machines overpower humanity.

On the other end are the Boomers — the optimists who see AI as the greatest enabler in human history, the catalyst for abundance, exploration, and human flourishing.

Who’s right? Maybe both.

As a wise man once said (I forgot who =) – “AI is not destiny. It is a mirror. It will reflect back to us what we choose to make of it.”

Reid Hoffman (yup, the co-founder of LinkedIn who made an AI version of himself, and both Reid’s actually interviewed each other on YouTube . . . sorry, I digressed), in his recent book “Superagency” offered a fresh perspective on AI.

He argues that AI’s purpose is not to replace us, but to multiply us. Imagine your capabilities, decisions, and creativity magnified a hundredfold. That is reaching a state of “Superagency.”

As AI is the new “superpower,” it exponentially drives “Human Agency” (man’s ability to make choices and exert influence on our own lives.) It’s not the machine in charge — it’s the human spirit, amplified.

So here’s the provocation: if we can dream of colonizing the solar system, why do we struggle to imagine preparing our workforce for the evolutionary leap? If AI can help us mine asteroids, why can’t it help us reimagine how we work, learn, and lead today?

The truth is, the next “space race” has already started — not just to 16 Psyche, or Mars, or other planets, but to the Future of Work. And it’s happening here, now, in our offices, factories, hospitals, and schools. Old roles are disappearing.

New roles are being born. Nearly 40 percent of today’s skills will vanish or transform by 2030 (World Economic Forum 2025 report). The banker with an AI co-pilot, the scientist testing millions of molecular models with AI, the recruiter freed from CV-sorting by algorithms — these aren’t sci-fi fantasies.

They’re already the prototypes of today’s worker. Now, imagine the prototypes of tomorrow’s worker and how even more exponentially different they will be.

But let’s be honest: reskilling isn’t enough. By the time we train for one wave of change, the next one is already here. What we need is not just new skills but a new mindset.

The courage to embrace uncertainty. The resilience to evolve with every technological shift. The audacity to see AI not as a threat but as a partner in humanity’s evolution.

So, which future do we want? The Doomers’ dystopia where we cede control to the machines, or the Boomers’ breakthrough where AI helps us expand beyond Earth itself?

Because this isn’t just about jobs. It’s about survival. Earth is our home, but it won’t be our only resource. To sustain our species into the unknown future, we’ll have to tap into the rest of the solar system. Planets and asteroids will become our mines, our fuel stations, our scaffolding for the next stage of civilization. And AI will be the bridge that gets us there.

Oh, by the way. That yellow sun we have now will eventually turn red and supernova millions of years down the road. So we will need to have an escape plan out of this solar system if we want the humanity to survive.

Here’s the paradox: to prepare for this cosmic future, we must start with something as humble as the way we work today. Every AI tool introduced into a workplace, every team that learns to collaborate with machines, every leader who embeds ethics and trust into their systems —that’s the training ground. It’s not just about efficiency. It’s rehearsal for survival.

So, let me ask you: are we preparing people just for today’s jobs, or for tomorrow’s missions? Are we content with reskilling programs that keep us afloat, or will we build a generation resilient enough to take the big leap forward?

The future is racing toward us. AI is the spark, the lever, the tool — and yes, the test.

Doomers see the end of humanity. Boomers see humanity finally breaking its limits.

The leap to 16 Psyche, to Mars, to the stars, begins not in space but right here. In how we choose to adapt our work, our skills, and our mindset.

The big leap forward is already here. The only question is: “Will we fall to fear — or will rise to a future of Superagency?”

(Joey Briones is a Philosophy and Letters graduate from San Beda College and a strategic People & Culture and Organizational Capability leader with over 25 years of experience across multinational corporations, start-ups, and mission-critical sectors—including technology, FMCG, healthcare, and telecommunications.)