Ravi was already at the corner when Sam showed up, headphones around his neck, hands in his pockets.

“You look like someone canceled your birthday,” Sam said.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You said ‘hey’ like it weighed forty pounds.”

Ravi half-smiled. They started walking.

“I don’t know, man. Just one of those mornings. Everything feels heavy. Like I’m pushing through uncharted territories.”

“Anything happen?”

“That’s the worst part. Nothing happened. Nothing’s wrong. I just woke up and my brain decided today is gray.”

Sam nodded. They walked half a block in silence.

“Want to try something?”

“If you say go for a run, I will end our friendship.”

Sam laughed. “No. Just put your headphones on. Play whatever. The thing you’d play if you were already in a good mood.”

“That’s the thing, I don’t feel like it.”

“I know. Do it anyway.”

Ravi sighed, pulled the headphones up, scrolled, hit play. They kept walking.

Two blocks later, Sam glanced over. “Anything?”

“...Maybe a little.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know. It’s stupid, though. I’m not actually feeling better. The music is just - covering it up. It’s fake.”

Sam stopped walking.

“Wait. Say that again.”

“What?”

“That it’s fake.”

Ravi shrugged. “It is, isn’t it? Nothing changed. I’m the same guy with the same problems. The music just put a coat of paint on it.”

“Okay. Tell me. Coffee. Is coffee fake?”

“What?”

“You drink coffee in the morning. You feel more awake. Are you actually more awake, or is it fake awake?”

“That’s different. That’s chemistry.”

“So is this. Music releases dopamine. Walking does too. Sunlight does too. Your brain is literally doing something different right now than it was ten minutes ago.”

“Okay but — I chose to do it. That’s the part that feels like cheating.”

“Why?”

Ravi opened his mouth. Closed it. They started walking again.

“I don’t know. I guess... if I have to do something to feel okay, then okay isn’t my real state. Sad is.”

“Says who?”

“What?”

“Who decided sad is the real one and okay is the fake one? Why isn’t it the other way?”

Ravi didn’t answer.

“Look,” Sam said, “if you have to try to feel sad - like, force yourself, build it up, hold onto it, we wouldd say you were doing something to yourself. But when you have to try to feel okay, somehow that’s the trick? That’s the lie?”

“...Huh.”

“Both of them take effort sometimes. Neither one is more real than the other. They’re just... different settings. And you have a tool for one of them. That’s not fake. That’s lucky.”

Ravi was quiet for a while. The music kept playing in his ears, quieter now, underneath the conversation.

“So what? every time I feel down, I just put on music and pretend?”

“Not pretend. Just... start. Music. Walk. Call someone. Whatever moves the needle. And then somewhere along the way, you stop noticing you started, and you’re just there.”

“That sounds suspiciously simple.”

“Most real things are.”

They walked past a deli. The smell of coffee drifted out. Ravi pulled one headphone out.

“I still don’t fully buy it.”

“That’s okay.”

“It still feels like I’m tricking myself somehow.”

Sam shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe the version of you that thinks the sad one is the real one - maybe that guy is the one tricking you.”

Ravi stopped walking.

“...Wait.”

Sam kept going. After a few steps, he turned around, walking backwards now, grinning.

“Catch up. We’re gonna be late.”

Ravi stood there for another second, headphones half on, half off.

Then he started walking.

Movement creates momentum. Whenever in doubt, confuse, feels like you are stuck - start moving and do something. Action will help you get over it or help you.

This one is little different than other posts, and may not fit the genre of the previous posts, but still going with it.

Robinhood has done something truly special.

Before Robinhood, investing felt complicated, expensive, and out of reach for many. High commissions and outdated apps kept regular people on the sidelines. Vlad Tenev and the team changed that. They made investing simple, mobile, and free. They removed barriers and grew the entire pie by bringing millions of new participants, especially younger generations into the markets.

I remember paying $35 and $7 per trade to Smith Barney (despite employee discount) and eTrade in old days. Just imagine paying those hefty fees for your small accounts to transact.

Just like Tesla accelerated the shift to electric vehicles and forced the entire auto industry to innovate, Robinhood forced traditional brokerages to cut fees, improve apps, and compete for everyday investors. That democratization is a genuine public good.

The Momentum Is Real (Q1 2026)

• 27.4 million funded customers

• $307 billion in total platform assets — up 39% year-over-year

• $17.7 billion in net deposits this quarter (22% annualized growth rate)

• 4.3 million Robinhood Gold subscribers — up 36% YoY, now reaching ~16% of customers

• Retirement assets grew 90% YoY to $27.4 billion

These numbers show that users aren’t just trading on the app — they’re increasingly trusting it with more of their money.

The Prediction Markets Opportunity — and the Image Challenge

Prediction markets had a breakout quarter, with 8.8 billion contracts traded and strong revenue contribution. The upcoming Rothera joint venture should expand this even further. It’s smart product innovation and taps into a potentially massive market for event forecasting and information discovery.

Yet this success creates a real dilemma.

On one hand, Robinhood wants to keep growing high-quality Assets Under Management (AUM) and become a trusted home for serious wealth. On the other, heavy focus on betting-style products can reinforce the old “gambling app” perception — making it harder to win over sincere, long-term capital allocators such as high-net-worth individuals, RIAs, and inheritors.

A Tale of Two Worlds

Robinhood clearly dominates with younger users. Many in Gen Z and Millennials default to Robinhood as their first (and often only) investing app. They rarely think about E*TRADE or Morgan Stanley unless an employer or family pushes them.

But when it comes to scale and “old money,” the gap remains large:

• Robinhood: ~$307 billion in platform assets, with average account sizes still in the lower five figures (though gradually rising).

• Incumbents (Schwab, Fidelity, etc.): Manage trillions in client assets with significantly higher average account balances — often $100k–$250k+ per account.

The Great Wealth Transfer (estimated at $84–124 trillion over the coming decades) represents a historic chance. As younger generations inherit wealth, many will look for modern, easy platforms. The question is how much of that capital will stay with or flow to Robinhood — versus staying at traditional firms with deeper advisory relationships.

Friendly Suggestion

Robinhood doesn’t need to kill its exciting, high-engagement side. Prediction markets can coexist and even attract sophisticated users.

What could make a big difference is clearer, dual storytelling:

• Celebrate the fun, active layer (trading, crypto, prediction markets).

• Equally amplify the serious wealth-building layer (Gold subscription perks, strong IRA match, retirement tools, Family Hub, advisor capabilities via TradePMR, and long-term investing features).

Targeted campaigns showing real stories, young professionals hitting six figures, families planning across generations, or inheritors simplifying their finances on Robinhood could help shift perception among more conservative allocators.

Tesla didn’t just sell cool cars. It convinced the world that a new way of driving was serious, inevitable, and superior. Robinhood has the same opportunity: prove that a delightful, modern platform can also be a trusted home for meaningful, long-term wealth.

I’m genuinely rooting for Robinhood to succeed. The democratization work has been world-class. Now is the perfect time to show the world the company is ready for its next chapter serving both the next generation and the serious capital that will follow.

I’d love to hear thoughts from the Robinhood team, investors, and users. How can Robinhood best balance excitement with trustworthiness?

too many dooms day articles, blogs, so here is one more. not sure who is the target audience for this one, but I am writing it based on my own observation of what I am doing, how I am using some of the tools like cursor, claude max, codex, gemini. we are really cooked? (for now, by we I mean software developers, testers, product managers, architects etc.) forget about the talk of entry level and mid senior level, the way some of the developments are shaping up is makes looking at code pointless at this point. It’s all gone.

couple of features I have done in last 2-3 days were estimated by us last year were 30+ days development time, which were done in 4-5 hours. please read it again what I just wrote. what that means? the days of writing software for living is gone.

what does that mean for future? the way I have been thinking about it is, you have to move to higher order work - like creativity, domain knowledge you bring to the table, operating this tool at their limit, and there will be enough problems to solve and enough integration and cross product development to be done. (which I am bullish on). more products getting built currently than ever, more code is getting pushed than ever. I am sure not only frontier labs token usage climbing up, but amount of articles, bot activity, github repos are also burning mid night oil at this point.

workflows are getting automated at scale and every passing week its moving at dangerous speed. in other words, agi for software and digital things are already here, just not utilized by everyone due to various reasons - some are still in denial mode and think they do better than others, some are just using free version so not aware of the quality of pro and max products, a lot in corporate world - where its restricted and may stuck with just copilot, which is utterly mediocre product if you try cursor, codex or claude code. so if you have not try, please do yourself favor and try it. you don’t need any fancy tutorial, or course, just go for it.

here are some predictions, following jobs are going to disrupted and find new home - software development, product people, support jobs, analyst in various domains, mid level managers, agents for various sorts, admins - they all are going to find new responsibilities. It’s once in a lifetime reset for those blue color works. I have another prediction - which is hard working or physical work jobs will get disrupted very quickly after this, its coming with robot revolution. certain class of work may see that their work gets more demand, but that will be short lived.

if anyone wants to see my setup, approach, happy to get on call, here is the link to block few mins with me here.

enough for now. I need to go to my claude cli to hit enter to accept that magically written error free code so that I can directly try out in web or push that app on apple app store for review.

note - continuation from here. (wrote about year or so back)

I opened my phone for five minutes.

I laughed and said, “Wow.”

One reel for happiness.

One for rage.

One to make me want a life I can’t afford.

Dopamine delivered faster than food.

Thumb scrolling like it’s getting paid.

Brain on airplane mode.

I came for one video.

I stayed for Six-Seven.

Now I’m tired, grumpy,

and somehow jealous of a guy with six cars and a podcast.

Did I relax?

No

I just aggressively avoided my life.

The algorithm fed me fake dreams,

killed my focus,

and called it awareness and entertainment.

Time disappeared.

Motivation followed.

And somehow I’m shocked every night like:

“Wow… where did today go?”

Probably down the scroll.

मंज़िल का पता नहीं।

गलत ही सही, कोई तो राह दिखा दे,

कहीं पर तो पहुँचा दे।

मायूस होना चाहते हैं,

लेकिन कोई वजह भी नहीं।

ऐसे तो क्या ढूँढेंगे,

चाहिए क्या, वह पता भी नहीं।

हर बार संभल जाना आसान होता है,

पर बिखर कर खुद को ढूँढना है।

अक्सर सुना है लोगों से,

वहीं से असली शुरुआत होती है।

अधूरे पन्नों से भागते हैं,

मुकम्मल कहानी कैसे बनेगी?

सुहाना अंत देखना चाहते हैं,

बस सोचते रहे — शुरू कहाँ से करें।

but i don’t want to ask the question.

i know what’s behind the door,

but i’m not ready to open that closet.

i see what’s ahead,

and i’m choosing not to walk there yet.

i haven’t given up—

i’ve shifted priorities to protect my sanity.

this is a moment i’m living inside,

and i’m letting it move on

without taking pieces of me with it.

दोस्तों से मिलने पर खिंच जाता है,

खुशियाँ देते-देते सिमट जाता है।

दुख के मौसम में ठहरा-सा लगता है,

लेकिन यह पल—पलक झपकते ही बीत जाता है।

बारिश गिरने पर भीग जाता है,

सूरज निकलते ही रोशनी बटोरता है।

चाँदनी रात में सुकून-सा लगता है,

लेकिन तुम्हें भी पता है—

यह पल, पलक झपकते ही बीत जाता है।

डर के दरवाज़े पर लंबा लगता है,

गहरी नींद में सपना लगता है।

हवा के झोंकों में सहमा-सा लगता है,

लेकिन पल तो बस पल का मेहमान है,

यह पल, पलक झपकते ही बीत जाता है।

रोकने से इसे रोक नहीं सकते तुम,

मरज़ी से आता है, मरज़ी से जाता है।

यह तुम्हारी अभिलाषा का मोहताज नहीं,

न ही अधूरी आशा का एहसास है।

यह पल, मेरे दोस्त, पलक झपकते ही बीत जाता है।

जी लो इसे जी भर के,

यह पल बस एक पल का मेहमान है।

न ठहरा है, न ठहरेगा,

पानी की तरह बस बहता जाएगा।

यह पल, पलक झपकते ही बीत जाएगा।

ઘડીક માટે તો બેસ હવે,

આટલો મસ્ત છે આ ખાટલો!

સમજદાર રહેવા માટે ભાગે જ છૂટકો,

જો શાંતિથી બેસી રહું,

તો ચિત્ત થઇ જાય છે કટકો.

ક્યાં સુધી તું મારીશ કુદકો?

થોડી વાર તો જંપ,

બધું થાયે જ છે છૂટકો.

મારી વગર કે મારા વડે,

ખબર છે મને સારી રીતે,

થવાનું છે બધું એની જાતે;

પણ ના માને મન મારુ,

ભાગું નહીં હું જો કંઈ કરવા માટે.

Inspired by The Upanishads (Eknath Easwaran)

Incident from few months back - We were driving from Ohio to New Jersey when my 9-year-old grew impatient as his game kept losing signal while he was talking to his cousin. Watching him get frustrated made me think back just 15–16 years. I used to buy calling cards for international calls, and without video chat I didn’t see my parents for over a year. No FaceTime, no WhatsApp. Go back a bit more, and everything was done through handwritten letters, no voice, no video, just waiting. Here you are listening to the music in car, playing game on phone while connected on video call and still somehow find something to complain about.

Few amazing quotes on it -

How quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only 10 seconds ago - Louis CK

You can laugh all you want, but these kids didn't raise themselves - Josh Wolfe

What we have today feels normal only because we use it every day. But none of it is magic, it’s built by people who spend years solving problems so we can enjoy convenience in seconds.

And yet, instant communication, instant entertainment, and instant everything comes with a hidden cost. Expectations are higher. Patience is thinner. We send a message and expect an immediate reply. We track packages like emergencies. We refresh emails like something broke if nobody answered in five minutes.

Little perspective can help us approach what’s in front of us -

• pause before reacting to inconvenience. (understand the difference between luxury and necessity)

• remember how recently these conveniences even become possible.

• notice the work, engineering and thought behind the things we use without thinking.

• even better - be net creator instead of just consumer.

The last one is very important, as that’s where you can appreciate the rigor of the craftsmanship. It doesn’t have to be anything big, but whatever it is, be a creator instead of just consumer to experience the process yourself.

here is amazing quote by John Collison -

Gratitude doesn’t mean ignoring frustrations. It just means keeping them in scale.

Maybe that bigger rant is for another day, but a small reminder today is enough: so much of what we rely on wasn’t guaranteed, and it certainly wasn’t always this easy.

સરકારી દવાખાને માણસ જીવ ખોવે,
ખાનગી દવાખાને પરિવાર મિલ્કત ખોવે.

ગરીબ ગલ્લે તમાકુ ચાવે,
અમીર પેન્ટહાઉસમાં અફીણ ફુંકે.

મજૂર ના તાપમાં પરસેવા છૂટે,
સેઠ જિમમાં પરસેવા કાઢે.

ગરીબને વિચારવા સુદ્ધા નો સમય નહિ,
ત્યાં અમીર વિચાર ના વંટોળ માં મનોચિકિત્સક શોધે.

ગરીબના બાળક નિશાળની બદલે મઝુરી પાર જાય,
અમીર નબીરા બન્ક મારી રઝરપટ્ટી કરવા જાય.

પ્રેમ થી કોઈ નું પેટ ભરાતું નથી,
તો પ્રેમ માં કોઈ પાગલ થઇ જાય.

ખબર નથી પડતી, આ બધું ક્યાં જાય છે,
કે પછી આ બધું આમ જ જાય છે.

Image generated using GenAI.

जब तक ये समझ पाता, मैं मंज़िल के पड़ाव पर था।

कितने साल बीत गए इस सफ़र में, या पूछूँ कितने लोग पीछे रह गए,

मुड़ कर देखना चाहता हूँ, लेकिन यादों की डोर भी अब तो टूट गए।

सोचा था ख़यालों में, कैसा लगेगा जब पहुँचूँगा मुक़ाम पर,

सब तो वैसा का वैसा ही है, बस नज़रिया बदल गया है ज़माने का।

आँखें लगाए अगले आसमान पर, नए सपने साँझे हैं,

पहुँचूँगा ज़रूर नई मंज़िल पर, भले ही बादल भरे हों पानी से।

The Mahabharata isn’t just an ancient epic — it’s a mirror held up to the human mind. One of the most profound moments comes when Yudhishthira, standing at the edge of despair, is tested by a Yaksha through a series of questions. Two answers stand out, even today.

Yaksha asks: Who is truly happy?

Yudhishthira replies: One who has no debts, financial or moral, is truly happy.

Think about this in our world today. We measure happiness in bigger homes, upgraded cars, or a vacation photo worthy of Instagram. Happiness, then, isn’t about owning more, but carrying less. Imagine waking up without the weight of unpaid bills or unspoken regrets. That’s a lightness worth aiming for. We may not always be debt-free in money, but we can be debt-free in spirit — by keeping our promises, making peace quickly, and living in alignment with what feels true.

Yaksha then asks: What is the greatest wonder?

Yudhishthira replies: Every day people see others dying, yet each one believes they are immortal. This is the greatest wonder.

Instead of reading this as something dark, read it as a reminder: life is shorter than we think, and that makes it precious. If we knew time was finite, wouldn’t we be braver? More curious? Kinder? Each day is an invitation to start something we’ve been postponing — a conversation, a new adventure, a decision we’ve been afraid to make.

These answers don’t push us toward fear, but toward possibility.

Happiness grows when we simplify, let go of burdens, and walk lighter.

Life expands when we remember it won’t last forever — so we stop waiting and start living.

Happiness isn’t in what you collect, but in what you let go of. The idea is not live in fear that it can end soon, as it can do number on you if you live in fear, and its equally important to not get persuade by that fear. At the same time, one need to have awareness about the importance of our time on earth and lifespan and not be ignorant, arrogant about things and our possessions.

The Yaksha’s questions are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago. Maybe even more so — because in a world of infinite distractions, remembering these simple truths could be the real path to freedom.

Prestory -

During the Pandavas’ exile, they were wandering in the forest. One day, they were very thirsty, and Nakula (the youngest brother) went in search of water. He found a beautiful lake but as he tried to drink, a mysterious voice stopped him: “This lake belongs to me. Answer my questions first, or you shall not drink.” Ignoring the warning, Nakula drank and fell unconscious.

One by one, Sahadeva, Arjuna, and Bhima also came, ignored the voice, drank, and collapsed.

Finally, Yudhishthira came looking for his brothers. The same voice warned him. But unlike the others, Yudhishthira paused and respected it. The voice revealed itself as a Yaksha (a nature-spirit). He told Yudhishthira that before drinking, he must answer his questions.

This led to the famous Yaksha Prashna (Question-Answer session) — where over a hundred questions were asked, ranging from philosophy, ethics, duty, happiness, life, and death. I only focused on these two, but lot of other questions were interesting, so if you are interested you can dig more online.

We used to be intentional. Now, as you start typing, the phone completes your spelling. Writing an email? The response is pre-drafted. We’re told it’s to boost productivity, but in reality, it’s making us more dependent, and honestly, a bit lazy. All emails looks like kind of same, and marketing campaign are same way.

It’s not just about remembering phone numbers. We rarely finish typing full words anymore; suggestions pop up, and we just tap one. We don’t do simple math because calculators are one swipe away. It’s convenient, but at what cost?

The case for using your brain, even if AI can think for you, is stronger than ever.

AI tools are powerful, no doubt. They save time, automate tasks, and expand access to knowledge. But the rise of AI-powered assistants also comes with side effects:

• Erosion of deep thinking: We stop analyzing, synthesizing, connecting ideas.

• Weakened memory: We don’t recall facts or stories - we just Google them. (though we do capture lot more information compared to old times, I mean a lot - lots of useless junk and propaganda - knowingly and unknowingly been consumed)

• Outsourced reasoning: We rely on AI to think through problems we should be engaging with ourselves.

Use AI as an accelerator, not a crutch. Let it spark ideas, check your work, automate the routine. But never give up ownership of the thinking. That’s how you stay sharp—and in control.

There’s another trend worth watching: AI with memory.

At first, it sounds great, personalized responses based on your past behavior, preferences, and habits. But memory in human experience is selective for a reason. We forget. That’s not a flaw, it’s a feature. Forgetting painful or unimportant things helps us move forward, take risks, forgive, and trust again.

If AI remembers everything, what your loved one said five years ago, how you felt after a fight, or what you clicked on last month. It could interfere in deeply personal decisions. It might suggest who you should trust, or what kind of relationship you should have. That’s not always helpful. It’s often harmful. We aren’t meant to remember everything. And we shouldn’t build tools that force us to.

The future will reward those who can think clearly, even with help. Keep your brain in the driver’s seat, use AI as a co-pilot, not the navigator.

પ્રેમ માં બધું રંગીન લાગે છે

પાનખર પણ મને વસંત લાગે છે

વિરહ માં પણ એક રોમાંચ છે

સમયાન્તર એ અનંત લાગે છે

સાથી માંજ સંસાર થઈ જાય છે

એના સિવાય બધા અદૃશ્ય લાગે છે


પણ લાગણીઓનો વ્યવહાર કાંઈ અલગ જ છે

જે અનુભવે એને જ સક્ષાત્કાર થાય છે

પ્રેમ તૂટે ત્યારે વાસ્તવિકતા વિકસે છે

શગડૂએ જાણે સ્પષ્ટ દેખાય છે

સવાલોનો જાણે વરસાદ થાય છે

સંસાર એ સંન્યાસ બની જાય છે

મન વિચારો ચગડોડે ચડે છે

વારંવાર વાસ્તવિકતાને સવાલ કરે છે

શું મારો અનુભવ એ મારો જ હતો

કે આંખે પ્રેમની કલ્પનાનો પાટો હતો


હ્રદય તૂટે અને વિર વિખેર થાય છે

મનમાં જાણે એક ભીષણ આગ બળે છે

ક્યાં તો એ જીવિત કરી શકે એમ છે

કે પછી કાયમ માટે મૃત્યુ કરી દેસે 

ફરી પ્રેમમાં પડવાનો ભય લાગે છે

સાચું કહું તો એ રોકાણ હવે વ્યર્થ લાગે છે

કોણ માટે મહેનત કરવી

અને ક્યાં ફરી એ વાર્તા શરુ કરવી

કશામાંયે આસક્તિ અશક્ય થઈ જાય છે

જાણે હ્રદય પર મોટો પથ્થર અનુભવાય છે

એકાંત માં જ ટાઢક લાગે છે 

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

Still thinking where to get started, so I’ll just go directly to the point. With all the recent development on various models released by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and other unknown players, it gives endgame vibes. More I think about it, my brain hurts and I get optimistic with all the opportunity, and also get pessimistic with what would happen to current society work dynamics. Let me break it down to you, what I mean - I’ll start with domain which is I am most familiar with - Software development.

Cursor/ Copilot/ Devin/ Bolt/ Marbalism - These are some of the tools I tried in last few months, and the output they generate has pretty much absolutely eliminated many bottlenecks that any software development process encounters for 60-70% of the time. I wouldn’t argue with someone who may question how I came up with that number; let’s just say it’s based on instinct. Historically, all companies have many projects in the pipeline and wishlist. When you approach the development team, their response is to prioritize and determine which project aligns best with our immediate needs, and we will tackle those tasks first. Recent AI advancements have removed those obstacles or on the way to optimize at scale on those, and those timelines have gone from months to days and in some cases just a few hours. The increased context window and advancements has made some tasks dependent on the availability of computing rather than availability of human resources. Now that is a good place to start exploring other sectors. So, let me try to provide more information on those.

Example domains comes to mind -

Insurance Agents and claim processors overall - who verify claim, go through paperwork and provide their recommendation.

Government officials who review permits and find discrepancies or missing information engage in repeated communications with citizens.

Data Analyst (in different domains) who examine reports and provides their recommendation or compile reports.

Legal assistants and paralegals who assist lawyers in preparing their case,

Radiologist who supervises the exams, reads and interprets the images, and writes a report for your healthcare provider (so partial job of just reading and providing a report to some extent)

Curriculum writers - Educational content creators who read the standards and write the appropriate content for age, grade level and standard support.

Sales professionals - In different domain who try to meet where their customers are.

Accounting, Product Managers, Application Testers, Quality Assurance, Research Analyst and many more professions which I am not even aware of and probably don’t understand will have a major impact or are already impacted.

All of these jobs can go magnitude of boost with this blackbox AI models. Without going into too much detail, I can fairly assess that it just works. I am sure people working in all these domains may shake their head in disapproval, but you can bookmark this post and comment back in a couple of years. Keep your receipts and get paid (happy to be wrong, but I don’t think I am in this case.) I don’t think these jobs will be gone, but these job will become exceptionally efficient, meaning it can be done with fewer people compared to what they employ currently and with a lower error rate and much faster. Similar to software development, some of the work will be done immediately instead of months, weeks, and years.

Lot of professions were limited by the amount of analytical, admin, clerical, manual labor (like doing repetitive work like making food - not all types of food, but many other daily ones, driving, etc.) and creative work was limited by the number of human heads involved, which is moving to compute. You can argue that compute is not here yet, but there is no doubt that it will arrive and efficiency from here will continue to increase too. All the things where we argue that but it can’t do A, then models will improve and it will do A, and then you will move to B and argue that but it can’t do B, and it will do B. So you understand, we will assist through crowd work and point out like a skeptic, and someone or some model will improve and do that thing until we push all the limits of this. If you go one level up, what is essentially happening is we are replicating the brain in compute, the difference is, it stays focused on something unlike us humans who have many other responsibilities, distractions, and weaknesses compared to this artificially created brain has one task or more than one task but is absolutely optimized for those tasks and it can perform them tirelessly without complaint and those weaknesses. So we have to redefine our objectives and figure out our own place in the new equation at a higher level.

So few places where I feel enough attention is required are - 1) What the next workforce will look like as many of these jobs may face significant changes. 2) What it means for education sector. We know that education providers don’t adapt quickly for many reasons, not always justifiable, but it’s challenging to conduct thorough analysis and update the curriculum because it takes a long time to assess effectiveness. Though some of the majors are absolutely pointless and we can at least agree on that and help to eliminate those. Another issue is how quickly we integrate AI models and its effectiveness, applications, usage into the curriculum. Just thinking about computer science and related majors, there needs to be an overhaul in what they teach, as those frontend, backend, full stack, system engineering jobs are going to look completely different. Do you really want to teach syntax at this point? Do we need to teach a specific programming language when English is sufficient to interact with these tools and they handle the programming for you?

Enough of ambiguous optimism - pessimism. What sectors can be really interesting Personalization in all sectors is one of the big theme, and agents framework for lot of dynamic and repetitive tasks. You will hear a lot of Agents as we get in 2025, its like how Apps become popular in couple of years of iPhone launch in 2007 and website in 2000s.

Healthcare and Biotech - Your health plans, food plans which were so far limited because of cost, resources, it can be done via this models if they are constantly learning, have access to our health records, your profession information and your goals. It already happens if you are up to date with your annual physical, but following it is hard as it never consistent from either your end or from provider, but more to blame is lot of other obstacles even if you would like to follow. Second major one is, the possibility of personalized medication. Personalized and Precision Medicine is another area where AI is going to make significant impacts in coming years, where we were limited due to technical and research resources, those barriers are decreasing significantly and lot of pharmaceutical companies are already embracing this change.

AI, Machine Learning, Software Development - As mentioned in beginning, some of the tools are already becoming very popular in the past year. On the product development and software engineering, the resource limitations will be close to 0. Like how software provided capability to bring marginal cost of adding more customers to zero and value extraction to infinity with minimal infrastructure cost for most part, imagine if the cost of development itself is coming to zero. I know it sounds superficial, but it’s happening and it will get there. What it allows us to do is create a lot more software everywhere. Even the places which we have not even thought of. So what it means is - We are not limited by the resources available for development or lack of skills but we are limited by the imagination, focus and rigor required to do those things or approach those problems. Not much of an excuse on that part, but mostly we need to break free from skeuomorphism. It is hard, but all the straightforward tasks are already completed.

Creative industries and Robotics - producing more robots who do efficient work, in domains that ensure these systems function properly and we continue automating them. They can be used for security purposes, care provision, and performing difficult tasks in environments that are unsuitable for humans. Design, implementation, and maintenance of these systems.

Sectors where there won't be any impact for the most part - Doctors, Nurses, physical therapist, skilled trades like construction, plumbing, electrician, chefs, firefighters, paramedics and many more of those sectors. Not much of actual impact but those will still improve with support provided by infrastructure and system enhancements.

In summary, AI is here to stay, and the pace of innovation will only accelerate. The challenge isn’t what AI can’t do—it’s how we adapt to what it will do. Whether it’s redefining the workforce, reimagining education, or creating entirely new industries, the opportunity is vast. The question is: are we ready to evolve alongside it? My answer is, we are not ready for the serious enough and it will hurt in short term, but we will come to consensus and adapt as we don’t have other choice.

of course the image is generated with ChatGPT.

શુ હું જોઉં છું એ પ્રત્યક્ષ છે

કે પછી મારા મનનું પ્રતીત છે?

અનુભવ મારો એ ખરખર છે

કે ભ્રમ માં મદ એ બ્રહ્મિત છે?

સુખનો એક એ આભાસ છે

કે સક્ષમ મનોબળનો સંકેત છે?

દુઃખમાં હૃદય રગદોડ છે

કે સમયનો કાંટો સ્થગિત છે?

અસ્તિત્વ એક મૃત્યુ નું દાન છે,

કે અનંતનું કોઈ અજાણ્યું પાન છે?

અહમ્ ના પડછાયામાં આંધળી છે દ્રષ્ટિ,

કે સાદગીમાં જ છુપાયેલી છે સૃષ્ટિ?

મન ને વાળું આ સત્યની શોધમાં,

કે છોડું માયાને આશાઓની શોધ માં?

વહેમથી વિચારો ચગડોડે છે

કે વાસ્તવિકતઓ મૃગજળથી મેલી છે?

Photo by Mathieu Perrier on Unsplash

I don’t know where to get started on this, but I came across this term in The Upanishads book by Eknath Easwaran. Always knew about the term from some readings and listening spiritual talks while growing up, but true meaning was kind of still vague and it very philosophical. This week I came across the short story named “The Egg” by Andy Weir. I am just copying here as is for reading -

You were on your way home when you died.

It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”

“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.

“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”

“Yup,” I said.

“I… I died?”

“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.

You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

“More or less,” I said.

“Are you god?” You asked.

“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”

“My kids… my wife,” you said.

“What about them?”

“Will they be all right?”

“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”

You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”

“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”

“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”

“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”

“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”

You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”

“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”

“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”

I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.

“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”

“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”

“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”

“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”

“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”

“Where you come from?” You said.

“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”

“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”

“So what’s the point of it all?”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”

“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.

I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”

“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”

“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”

“Just me? What about everyone else?”

“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”

You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”

“All you. Different incarnations of you.”

“Wait. I’m everyone!?”

“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.

“I’m every human being who ever lived?”

“Or who will ever live, yes.”

“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”

“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.

“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.

“And you’re the millions he killed.”

“I’m Jesus?”

“And you’re everyone who followed him.”

You fell silent.

“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”

You thought for a long time.

“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”

“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”

“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”

“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”

“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”

“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”

And I sent you on your way.

If you don’t have time to read all of the above, here is the short fun video adaptation of the same -

Now going back to mention in The Upanishads, it’s very detailed in different Vedas summary, but in relatively simple terms here is how it’s been explained -

The Upanishads describe the “Self” (Atman) as the innermost essence of a person, the true identity beyond the physical body and mind. It is eternal, unchanging, and pure consciousness. According to the Upanishads, realizing this Self brings liberation (Moksha), as it is ultimately one with Brahman, the universal reality or supreme consciousness. This teaching emphasizes that our true nature is beyond the temporary material world and is inherently divine and infinite.

In the context of the Upanishads, all living beings share the same fundamental Self. While we appear different in our bodies, personalities, and experiences, the essence or core—the Self—is identical in everyone. This Self is non-dual and is one with Brahman, the ultimate reality. The Upanishads teach that the apparent separations are illusions (Maya), and realizing the oneness of all life leads to spiritual liberation and unity with the universe.

The understanding of Self or The One can lead to a lot of help in regular life, if we can understand and adopt this concept.

Helping others, if you see the Self in all beings as one and the same, helping others becomes a natural expression of compassion. You are not just helping another person, you are essentially aiding an extension of your own Self. It fosters empathy and selflessness, as serving others is seen as serving the divine essence within everyone.

Forgiveness - Understanding that the Self in you is the same as in others makes forgiveness easier. Conflict becomes illusion and it can help you rise above anger, resentment, and ego.

Conflict/Fighting - In situations where conflict arises, this concept encourages you to approach issues with awareness. It doesn’t mean you never stand up for yourself, but it shifts the approach.

I am sure it’s applicable to a lot of other places as well other than the above mentioned.

There is a lot of similarity between the science fiction story written by Andy Weir, the author of The Martian. As it emphasizes the interconnectedness of all beings and unity of consciousness, which is kind of similar to how it’s been mentioned about the concept of the Self (Atman) in Hindu scriptures. However, there are differences as well. In Hinduism, liberation (Moksha) leads to a state of unity with Brahman, transcending the cycle of rebirth, whereas The Egg suggests continuous reincarnation within the same overarching consciousness until it reaches maturity.

Overall, both The Egg and Hindu teachings explore themes of interconnectedness and the idea that the essence of all beings is fundamentally one.

Image generated by Meta AI, licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)

Heart: Sure thing, Mind. I've been feeling the same way. It's like people don't really get us sometimes, you know?

Mind: Exactly! They think I'm all about cold, hard facts and you're just about fuzzy feelings. But it's not that simple, is it?

Heart: Not at all! I mean, feelings can be pretty logical too. Like when you're scared of something dangerous – that makes sense, right?

Mind: Good point. And I'm not just a calculator. I need your input to understand what really matters to people.

Heart: That's so true. Remember when our human was choosing a career? They needed both of us for that big decision.

Mind: Oh yeah, we made a great team there. We weighed the pros and cons...

Heart: ...and figured out what would make them happy. Team work!

Mind: But you know what bugs me? When people say stuff like "Just use your head" or "Follow your heart" as if we're totally separate.

Heart: I know, right? It's not like you can make good choices by ignoring either of us. We're better together.

Mind: Agreed. Oh, and don't get me started on how they blame us for everything. "It's all in your head" or "Don't be so heartless."

Heart: Ugh, tell me about it. As if we're not both involved in how people act and feel.

Mind: You know, with all the stuff online these days, I feel like I'm working overtime. So much information to process!

Heart: I hear you. And all those social media posts make me go through so many feelings so fast. It's exhausting!

Mind: Maybe we need to tell our human to take a break sometimes. You know, to give us both a rest.

Heart: That's a great idea. Like when they do that relaxing breathing thing. It calms you down and gives me a steady rhythm.

Mind: Yeah, that works well for both of us. Oh, you know what I heard the other day? It really made me think.

Heart: What's that?

Mind: They said, "Don't take success to your head, and failure to your heart."

Heart: Wow, that's deep. What do you think it means?

Mind: Well, I think it's about balance. When good things happen, I shouldn't get too puffed up about it.

Heart: And I guess when bad things happen, I shouldn't take it too hard or hold onto those sad feelings for too long?

Mind: Exactly! It's like a reminder for both of us to stay steady, no matter what's going on.

Heart: I like that. It's kind of what we've been talking about this whole time, isn't it? Working together, staying balanced.

Mind: You're right! Hey, Heart?

Heart: Yeah, Mind?

Mind: I'm glad we're in this together. Even if we work differently, we both want what's best for our human.

Heart: Couldn't have said it better myself. High five! ...Oh wait, we don't have hands.

Mind: laughs Well, it's the thought that counts!

Random thoughts! I wanted to make it funny, but end up getting little sincere talk.

• We all are here for relatively small period of time, instead of overthinking, judging others - be respectful, love and avoid conflicts.

• Refuse living in past, forgive and ask for forgiveness - keep the conscious clear. It adds stress.

• You can express your feeling, but you cannot make someone change or change their mind - that thing is solely depends on them.

• Look for intent, instead of actual action/outcome. Often we see someone's behavior is not good (according to society or our own standard), that doesn't mean that person is bad. It's just different. If it bothers you so much, talk about it instead of making their persona in your mind and keep building the case around it.

• Don't hang on to things for longer than it should. It adds to stress. world is big and universe is infinite.

• Never take yourself so seriously. We all are playing game of life here, which can be extremely unpredictable. What makes it interesting is twist and turns, otherwise most of the time things are on autopilot.

• Find something which you deeply care about, and work towards. It's really important.