Author:intern

Translation: Deep Tide TechFlow

Deep Tide Introduction:

While most people are still debating whether AI will replace jobs, the tech elites in Silicon Valley have already started to reconstruct their entire life planning.

This article stems from the deep thoughts of X platform blogger intern, who poses a radical hypothesis: if the exponential growth of AI distorts the world in 10 years, have our current financial, health, and career decisions all been wrong?

From stopping pension contributions to withdrawing future cash flow early, from abandoning long-term health management to reshaping social circles, these 21 pieces of advice are not just survival guides but also a “dimensional strike” against traditional linear life perspectives.

The full text is as follows:

Imagine if the world in 10 years becomes completely unrecognizable.

What changes would you make starting today?

Most of my friends in the tech circle are very aware of how fast AI is accelerating. For those observers, this acceleration was already evident a few years ago, but in the past year, the probability of a genuine “explosion” that could change the world has significantly increased.

Now, this awareness is beginning to spread for the first time among people outside the tech circle (i.e., ordinary people).

The world five years from now will be very different. In ten years, it could become entirely unrecognizable.

Once you accept this internally, a natural question arises:

“So... what should I do now?”

If you fundamentally change your view of the future, then it makes sense to change your behavior in the present.

I have been pondering this question for years, and in the past few months, I have written these thoughts into various versions and sent them to friends and family who asked me this question. I decided to compile my views and conclusions into a list.

Here are the specifics:

Investment

• Directly invest in the spread of AI: (e.g., Tesla, Nvidia, Palantir, Google; if you have the channels, you can also invest in companies like Anthropic and OpenAI).
• Invest in rapidly growing sectors related to AI: Robotics, Biotech, Crypto, Space.
• Invest in the supply chain: Computing power, energy, raw materials.
• If you are under 50, do not contribute to 401k or Roth IRA (Note: American individual retirement accounts): Avoid locking up capital in retirement tools with 30-40 year terms. These tools rely on a predictable world; while they have a positive expected value (+EV) over a long cycle, their expected value is negative if you need to withdraw early. Instead of pursuing tax optimization over decades, prioritize liquidity. By the time these accounts mature, they may very well have become meaningless.

Universal Finance

• Cash out future cash flows as much as possible: Overall, you should take on debts that need to be repaid in the future in exchange for cash today.
• Lock in fixed-rate debts as much as possible.
• Example: Do not repay student loans faster than required; apply for long-term mortgages. In general, view debts from ten years in the future as potentially “non-existent,” and then operate rationally based on this.
• Avoid annuities and long-term financial products that rely on stability.
• Reduce dependence on institutions that assume “slow/linear change.”

About Careers and Skills

• Prepare for most cognitive and physical labor to be deeply automated within five years.
• Do not go to law school, medical school, or other extremely long training programs now for financial return on investment (ROI).
• Get extremely close to AI systems: whether as a developer or super user.
• Build distribution ability (audience, leverage, brand): instead of collecting various certificates and qualifications.
• Work in places where you can closely observe exponential changes.

About Life and Time Planning

• Stop planning life over a 30-40 year span.

Here are some practical examples:

• Do not focus your 20s and 30s on “quality of life after retirement.”
• Do not overly believe in long-term longevity optimization: You do not need to worry about long-term impacts of cancer, aging, hypertension, or anything that you will only “pay for” in ten years. Basically, “future health debts” related to nicotine, sun exposure, alcohol, smoking, or most long-term unhealthy habits are unlikely to ever need repaying (Note: implying that technology will solve these problems or that the world has already changed dramatically).
• Learn to habitually abandon outdated plans.
• Buy a house near family as soon as possible: You may want to own land and be with those you are closest to. This typically does not change too much for most people's plans, but it’s best to complete it early.
• Generally, do not plan beyond 5-10 years: The world will change so much that planning may likely be meaningless.
• Go complete your “wish list”: Do those things you have always wanted to do now.

If the world is accelerating exponentially, your current behavior should reflect that—this is merely an update to the hypothetical premise.