By Futurist Thomas Frey
The Utopian Future Nobody Actually Wants
We’re promised a world where AI handles the drudgery, robots do the labor, and humans are finally free to pursue meaning, creativity, and self-actualization. No more grinding commutes, soul-crushing jobs, or exhausting responsibilities. Just leisure, exploration, and the pure pursuit of whatever brings you joy.
It sounds perfect. It’s actually existential horror.
What every utopian vision of our AI-automated future systematically ignores is the human need to feel needed. Not wanted—needed. Not appreciated in the abstract, but depended upon in concrete, immediate ways. The satisfaction of knowing that if you don’t show up, something important doesn’t get done. That other people are counting on you. That you’re playing a necessary role in something larger than yourself.
Strip that away and you don’t liberate humans—you hollow them out.
Continue reading… “The Emptiness of Being Unnecessary: When Nobody Needs You Anymore”