Toasting the ends

There have been gleefully apocalyptical headlines about AI replacing people in all kinds of jobs for a couple of years. Recently though, a specific threat to those people building and integrating AI into the world economy themselves has emerged out of the background noise of hype and bullshit. Yes, you too senior software engineer, you will not be spared.

My colleagues, even those who were probably once true believers, have started to surreptitiously look around to the emergency exit routes. Increasingly, actions and words concerning what comes next are coming out into the open. A user researcher friend has started to fan the embers of his thing for wine and now he runs a little wine club subscription here in Berlin. A high-flying product manager is thinking about a life that revolves more around hands-in-soil small scale farming on her dad’s land in France.

Our office building has a rooftop terrace. In twenty seven degree heat I sat with a few of my fellow works council members and, drinking pre-bottled white wine spritz from the office fridge, we toasted the signing of a works agreement on performance assessment that was six months in the making. On the other side of the terrace another tenant “startup” was hosting drinks with a staffed bar and barbecue. Over the background hum of APIs and KPIs, I spoke to my friends about the future. We’re starting on pay negotiations next in the knowledge that, our own protection from termination notwithstanding, there might be nobody left to negotiate for in six months’ time.