The Problem with Human 2.0 and the Promise of Human 3.0

So here's what I've been thinking about lately.

We've got 8 billion people on this planet, right? And maybe—maybe—0.01% of them are actually set up to be creators. Everyone else is stuck running Human 2.0 software. You know, that industrial-age operating system where you go to school, get a job, follow instructions, retire, die.

That worked great when we needed factory workers. Not so much when AI can do most of those jobs better than us.

The problem is that a tiny fraction of 1% of Earth's population is activated and enabled.

By activated I mean they've figured out they could actually build stuff instead of just consuming it. They get that they have agency. They don't need anyone's permission to create.

By enabled I mean they have the AI tools to actually do it. Like, you can literally have an idea in the morning and have a working prototype by lunch. That's insane. That wasn't possible even two years ago.

But here's the thing—most people never even got the memo that this is possible. Their entire education was designed to make them into workers, not creators or builders. And I mean, why would it be any different? The whole system was built to feed the industrial machine.

The three versions of humanity ​

Ok, so think about it this way.

Human 1.0 was basically everyone before factories. Farmers, blacksmiths, whatever. You made stuff with your hands for people in your village. That was it. Your reach was walking distance.

Human 2.0 showed up with the Industrial Revolution. Suddenly we needed millions of people who could show up at 9 AM, stand at a machine, and not ask too many questions. So we invented schools that look exactly like factories—rows of desks, bells telling you when to move, standardized everything. Sit down, shut up, do what you're told. And honestly? It worked perfectly. For 200 years.

Human 3.0 is what's happening right now, and most people haven't noticed yet. It's builders and creators using AI to do things that used to take entire teams. Instead of asking "Who will hire me?" they're asking "What should I build today?" They don't wait for permission. They just ship stuff.

The worker vs. creator paradigm ​

Look at any school right now. Kids sitting in rows. Bells telling them when to move. Standardized tests measuring their worth. We're literally still training them for factories. In 2025. When those factories are full of robots.

The whole thing is designed to create dependency:

• Wait for someone to tell you what to do
• Ask permission before trying anything
• Stay in your lane
• Don't get creative
• Fight for one of the "good" jobs
• Trade hours for dollars
• Retire if you make it that long

Meanwhile, AI is eating every single one of those jobs. Customer service? Chatbots. Data entry? Automated. Basic coding? AI does it better. Legal research? AI. Even medical diagnoses—AI is getting scary good at those.

All those "safe" middle-class jobs our parents told us to get? They're disappearing. Fast. And they're not coming back.

The activation problem ​

Here's the really messed up part: most people have no idea they could be creators. Like, it literally never occurred to them.

Think about what everyone tells you growing up:

• "Get good grades"
• "Go to a good college"
• "Get a secure job"
• "Work hard"
• "Save for retirement"

Notice what nobody ever says?

• "Find problems and solve them"
• "Build something people want"
• "You don't need anyone's permission"
• "Start something that matters"

It's wild. We spend 20 years in school and nobody ever mentions that you could just... make stuff. Build things. Solve problems. Create value.

And even when people do figure this out, they're paralyzed. "I can't start a business, I don't have an MBA." "I can't make art, I didn't go to art school." "I can't build an app, I'm not a real programmer."

Dude. The "real programmers" are using ChatGPT to write half their code now. The credentials don't matter anymore. The gatekeepers are gone. But people are still waiting at the gates.

The enablement gap ​

Ok, so let's say you're one of the few who gets it. You know you could be a creator. You're ready to build. But then what?

Until like five minutes ago (historically speaking), you were screwed. Want to start a business? That'll be 50 grand. Want to build software? Go learn to code for four years. Want to make art? Buy expensive tools and spend years learning technique. Want to share your ideas with the world? LOL, good luck getting past the gatekeepers.

But now? Now we have AI.

I'm not exaggerating when I say everything has changed. You can:

• Build a whole website before lunch
• Write code without knowing what a semicolon does
• Create professional art without owning a paintbrush
• Make music without reading notes
• Write like a pro in any style
• Analyze data like you have a PhD
• Design products like you went to design school
• Start an entire business for less than your phone bill

And it's getting better stupid fast. GPT-4 was already insane. Claude 3.5 is better. o1 can actually reason through problems. We're maybe 5% into this revolution.

Real examples of Human 3.0 in action ​

Let me tell you about some people who get it.

There's this teacher in Ohio. Never wrote a line of code in her life. She used Claude to build an entire educational platform. Three weeks later, she's serving 10,000 students. Some dev shop quoted her 75 grand to build the same thing.

Or this grandfather in Japan. Dude can't draw at all. Doesn't matter. He's using AI to create a manga about his family's history. The AI draws, he tells the stories. It's getting published.

There's a teenager in Brazil who built an app for farmers using ChatGPT. No CS degree. No funding. Just figured out what farmers needed and built it. 5,000 users now.

This is just the beginning. In a few years, this will be normal. The weird thing will be NOT building stuff.

The psychological barriers we must overcome ​

The tech isn't the problem. The problem is what's in our heads.

"I'm not creative"—Bullshit. Everyone's creative. You just got it beaten out of you by school. AI can help you find it again.

"I don't have the right background"—Good. The people with the "right" background all think the same way. Your weird perspective is your superpower.

"It's too late to start"—Colonel Sanders was 62 when he started KFC. With AI, you can learn faster than any generation before us. It's literally never been a better time to start.

"I need permission"—From who? Your boss who's about to be replaced by AI? The university that's still teaching Java? Your parents who think stable jobs exist? Come on.

"What if I fail?"—Then you try again tomorrow. It costs basically nothing to fail now. The only real failure is not trying.

Human 3.0: the creator revolution ​

Human 3.0 is about completely flipping the script. Instead of training people to be workers, we're enabling them to be builders.

And it's already splitting humanity into two groups:

The Builders: People using AI to create stuff that didn't exist yesterday. They're solving problems, making art, building businesses, teaching in new ways. They're not competing for jobs—they're creating their own reality.

The Displaced: People still updating their resumes, applying for jobs that are disappearing, trying to compete with both AI and the builders. They're playing a game that's already over.

This isn't some distant future thing. It's happening right now. The builders are already winning. Everyone else is just starting to notice.

The exponential advantage of moving now ​

Here's why you need to start literally today:

AI is getting better exponentially. What we have now is trash compared to what's coming. But if you start now, you're learning how to think with AI, how to prompt it, how to combine different tools. When the good stuff arrives, you'll be ready. Everyone else will be trying to figure out what a prompt is.

The builders are finding each other. Communities are forming right now. People are collaborating, sharing what works, building on each other's stuff. You can join now or try to catch up later when they're already miles ahead.

New markets are appearing daily. I'm seeing people build businesses around needs that didn't exist six months ago. The early builders are literally defining entire categories. By the time most people notice, it'll be too late.

This stuff takes time to click. It's not just learning tools. It's rewiring your brain from consumer to creator. That doesn't happen overnight. Every day you wait is a day you could've been learning.

Your specific roadmap to Human 3.0 ​

Want to actually do this? Here's how:

Week 1: Wake up ​

• Accept that your job is probably gone in 5 years anyway
• Figure out what weird knowledge you have that others don't
• Pick the smallest possible thing to build. Seriously. Tiny.

Week 2-4: Start building ​

• Pick ONE AI tool (ChatGPT, Claude, whatever) and actually learn it
• Make something every single day. Doesn't matter if it sucks.
• Post everything online. Your mess is someone else's inspiration.

Month 2-3: Find your people ​

• Join builder communities. They're everywhere—Twitter, Discord, wherever
• Start collaborating. Two builders > one builder
• Listen to what people actually want, not what you think they want

Month 4-6: Level up ​

• Turn your random experiments into actual systems
• Teach other people what you learned. Teaching = product.
• Add more AI tools. Combine them in weird ways. See what happens.

What this means for society ​

We're about to watch everything change. And I mean everything.

Schools will have to stop being knowledge factories and start teaching creativity (or they'll become completely irrelevant).

Work won't be about hours anymore. It'll be about what you create.

Geography stops mattering. Some kid in Nebraska can serve customers in Singapore.

Age stops mattering. My 16-year-old neighbor might outbuild me. My 60-year-old mom might too.

This is happening whether we're ready or not. The Industrial Revolution took decades. This will take years.

The urgency of now ​

Look, I'm not trying to scare you, but the window is closing. Not closed—closing.

The people who figure this out now, who start building with AI today, who develop that creator mindset—they're going to own the next decade. Everyone else is going to be competing for scraps.

But here's the thing: it's stupidly easy to start. The tools are free or cheap. YouTube University will teach you anything. Communities of builders will literally help you for free.

The only thing stopping people is the voice in their head saying they're not allowed to do this.

What this means for you ​

If you're reading this, you get it. Or at least you're starting to. But getting it isn't enough.

Here's what you actually need to do:

1. Stop thinking about jobs—start thinking about problems you can solve
2. Make AI your creative partner—it's not cheating, it's leverage
3. Start building right now—not tomorrow, not after you learn more, now
4. Share everything—your journey might be exactly what someone else needs to see
5. Build systems, not just stuff—create things that work while you sleep
6. Focus on real problems—tools will change, human needs won't
7. Develop taste—AI can make anything, but knowing what's worth making is your edge

The future belongs to builders ​

Forget rich vs poor. Forget educated vs not. The only distinction that's going to matter is builders vs everyone else.

Builders create value. Everyone else used to do jobs that AI now does better.

This isn't some future prediction. It's happening right now. Today. While you're reading this.

So what's it going to be? You going to keep polishing your resume, hoping someone will pay you to do something an AI could do cheaper? Or are you going to start building?

The tools are literally right there. ChatGPT. Claude. Midjourney. Whatever. They're waiting.

Right now, maybe 0.01% of people get this. Next year, maybe 0.1%. In five years, maybe 1%. The first movers aren't just getting advantages—they're literally defining what Human 3.0 looks like.

So seriously, what are you going to build first?

Because if you're not building, you're just waiting to become obsolete.

And that's not a future I'd want.