Grandpa lied (A little)

"Grandpa said, farming pays and not even your AI can take that away" that was my cousin speaking. "And what's that supposed to mean?" I countered. "It means that, I am going to study agriculture so that AI won't take my job and in fifty years I cannot be jobless" she responded. "Bro, I thought you wanted to become a Secretary or was it an accountant?" I asked, with a puzzled look. ('Bro', is a familiar inside name we call each other when no one wants to stress recalling names during a conversation). She has always wanted to become an accountant, whatever had to do with the digits and office too, so I was shocked where all she said was coming from. "I wanted to, yes and now it's scary how AI can take that job from me in years to come I wouldn't lie, it's scary" she said, the look on her face like someone torn in between decisions. "Have you considered, getting educated about AI? like a skill or something? I don't think you should jump to conclusions really" I said, making eye contact with her this time."I mean, we never can tell" I pressed further. "But, Debbie did you hear about the Kuda issue recently? What are you saying? it's clear the robots are here to take Over. Don't you remember what the Bible says about end time? see eh, let me just go and study agriculture. thank God, I did two O'level exams. One as a science student and the other as an art student, God bless that my teacher" she said, sighing like someone who just lifted a weight off her chest. "Bro, please can you spare me one minute of your time?" I said, looking at her she was trying to pick the clothes she washed earlier. "Okay, please don't take long you know my mum doesn't like to wait" She responded, sitting next to me. "Do you remember in primary school," I said, "when they told us technology is anything that makes our work easier?" She squinted a little "yes..." "So when grandpa's grandfather started using a hoe instead of his bare hands, was that a threat or a tool? what your response is, that's what AI is coming to do" I said, still maintaining eye contact with her. "Hmm, Debbie where did you hear all these from?" she responded, stunned. I laughed softly " I make research, I read to be informed and that AI, search engines made that possible" "The Kuda thing," I started, "what exactly did you hear?""That they sacked hundreds of people. That AI is replacing everything."I nodded "they did sack people, In March 2026, hundreds of staff were let go across multiple departments. That part is true."She looked at me like she had won. "But read what Kuda actually said," I continued. "They called it a restructuring, a strategic review, the company had been bleeding, $35 million in losses in 2023 alone. By 2024 they had brought that down to under $6 million. They were cutting costs to stay alive, not installing robots" I paused. "Every company, does need people at one point or the other, do you know the people who lost their jobs lost them to a spreadsheet, not a machine? It was a decision that said we cannot afford this many people at this stage, and that has been happening in companies since before our grandpa ever picked up a hoe." She opened her mouth, then closed it. "Now," I said, "the real question is, of the people Kuda let go, which ones do you think will find work fastest? The ones who only knew one tool, or the ones who could adapt?" She was quiet for a while, "but what if I learn it and it still takes over?" she asked.I understood that fear, I had felt it too once." remember, I asked earlier, what they taught us technology means in primary school?" I asked. "Making work easier, that was it" she responded. "see ehn, that was the whole definition. When the first calculators came out, everyone said accountants were finished. When ATMs arrived, people buried the bank teller but in 2026, there are more bank tellers in Nigeria than there were in 1990, because the banks grew, the customers multiplied, and somebody still had to sit across from a human being and explain why their money was not where they left it." I could see her smile. "AI is not the first thing that came to take your job," I continued. "The printing press came for the scribes, the tractor came for the farmer, the computer came for the typist and every single time, the people who learned the new thing did not just survive, they became the ones everyone else needed." I looked at her properly. "The ones who ran were the ones history forgot." she uncrossed her arms, looking at me. "As for grandpa," I said, "he is not wrong, farming pays, it has always paid but even farming today is being done with AI-assisted soil sensors, drone surveillance, precision irrigation. The future is not choosing between the field and the screen, it is knowing how to use both." she looked at me for a while. "Debbie.......," she said finally, "you are too much." I laughed "Me keh? no o, I just refused to be afraid of what I did not understand o, I made my findings and I thought a lot about it before I could say all these to you." She stood up to go to her mum, but she stopped at the door and turned around "maybe I will look into that AI course sha, so that history doesn't forget me too o." "Broo... abeg dey go" I said laughing at what she said, knowingly. That was enough for me, because the future does not belong to the people who saw AI coming and ran. It belongs to the ones who saw it coming, sat down, and asked "how does this work, and how do I make it work for me?". To every worker out there, shout out to you! and if you are reading this and you work in an office, behind a counter, in front of a screen, or yes, even on a farm, take a breath. AI is not coming to empty your seat but it is coming, and it will lap everyone who is still doing in 2030 what they learned in 2010 and never updated. The threat is not the machine, the threat is stillness. Evolve, not because you are afraid, but because every generation that survived technology did one thing differently from the ones who did not, they picked up the new tool instead of running from it.Your job is safe, your comfort zone is not!

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