For New Disruptors

Disruption Now is a tech-empowered platform helping elevate organizations in entrepreneurship, social impact, and creativity. Through training, product development, podcasts, events, and digital media storytelling, we make emerging technology human-centric and accessible to everyone. This week, we unpack what it means to be human in an age where AI can out-know us, and why that might be the best news we’ve had in a long time.

Compete with Machines or Partner with Them

Most people worry:

But that’s not the deepest problem.

As AI makes knowledge instantly available and cheap, the value of simply knowing things—degrees, memorized expertise—drops rapidly.

The real challenge:

Before the “currency of knowledge” collapses, will you figure out what makes humans unique and valuable in a world where AI can do the knowledge work?

It’s like the difference between an AI summarizing Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me and actually living it as a Black person in America. One is words on a screen; the other is embodied, generational, visceral knowledge carried in your bones, shaping every choice, every fear, every act of courage.

AI can generate the summary, but it can’t feel what it means to walk through the world with that history, that vulnerability, and that resilience. It can’t internalize what it means to be interrupted, underestimated, and still create meaning in the middle of it.

That’s the gap between information and transformation—between what AI can simulate and what humans must live.

What About Jobs?

There is no field where AI won't have some disruption. Take healthcare. AI now reads scans more accurately than most doctors and even scores higher on empathy tests. But work isn’t just a list of tasks; it’s a bundled reality of ownership, liability, shifting context, and connecting with other people.

When AI misses a tumor, who gets sued? When a patient needs comfort, who is there to provide it? Can AI give a hug, ask for a second opinion, or shift context mid-conversation?

These aren’t technical problems; they’re human ones. The real gap isn’t between you and an algorithm; it’s between processing information and understanding context.

What Proves Work in an AI World?

In a world where knowledge is instant and credentials can be faked, what counts as real proof of work?

• Software that ships and survives real users, scale, and edge cases.

• Writing that changes how people think, not just grammatically correct, but also creates new mental models.

• Cross-functional projects that align engineering, design, sales, and legal.

• Building trust networks through consistent judgment over the years.

• Cultural curation and creation, identifying what resonates before it’s obvious.

• High-stakes decision-making under uncertainty, where judgment and accountability can’t be delegated to an algorithm.

These are at the intersection of knowledge, experience, judgment, and human connection. They’re what remains valuable when pure information processing becomes commoditized.

College, Cheating, and the Collapse of Credentials

On June 24, 2025, Monster and CareerBuilder filed for bankruptcy, with debt ranging from $100 million to $500 million, signaling a warning for the entire credentialing system.

For nearly a millennium, universities served as civilization’s knowledge gatekeepers. This system survived the printing press, the Industrial Revolution, and the internet. 

Will Universities Survive AI? 

Surveys indicate that 30%–89% of students use ChatGPT for their homework. As one educator put it, this is education’s “Lance Armstrong moment.” When enough people cheat with high upside and low risk, others feel compelled to cheat to compete.

If knowledge is now free and instant, what exactly are universities selling?

It’s not information—ChatGPT provides that. Not skills—YouTube tutorials teach those. Not even critical thinking—AI simulates that too.

They’re selling credibility in a world where a prompt can fake credentials.

The job market reflects this confusion. Nearly half of companies plan to drop degree requirements, yet 59% of employers say degrees matter more than five years ago. We’re watching a system in violent transition, unsure whether to double down on traditional credentials or abandon them entirely.

My Disruptive Take

AI is forcing us to confront what was always most valuable about human work:

Not the knowledge we store, but the connections we build.

Not the problems we solve, but knowing which issues matter.

Not executing tasks, but navigating the undefined spaces between them.

Whether AGI arrives in 2025 or 2050, those who thrive will understand: in a world of infinite knowledge, value concentrates in judgment, taste, and the ability to navigate discontinuity. The clock isn’t ticking on human obsolescence—it’s ticking on our willingness to recognize what makes us irreplaceable.

Sources

1. AI answers top doctors on empathy — JAMA Internal Medicine jamanetwork.com

2. Bender et al., “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots,” FAccT 2021 aclanthology.org

3. Monster + CareerBuilder bankruptcy — Washington Post / Reuters washingtonpost.comreuters.com

4. SHRM 2024 Talent Trends: 34 % dropping degree requirements shrm.org

5. Skills-based hiring is still rare — Business Insider businessinsider.com

MidwestCon

MidwestCon 2025 at the 1819 Innovation Hub

MidwestCon returns September 9-11 in Cincinnati, exploring “The Human Code: Embedding Empathy Into Innovation.” Connect with builders, investors, and leaders shaping AI, blockchain, and the future of work. This is where we create, not just watch, the future.

Podcast

Disruption Now Podcast

Disruption Now interviews leaders at the intersection of emerging tech, humanity, and policy.

In this episode of the Disruption Now Podcast, Sian Bitner-Kearney, founder of Rock Your Beauty, reveals how perfectionism, filters, and social media lies damage self-worth—and what it takes to break free. Her nonprofit is helping women embrace their authentic selves, one fashion show and workshop at a time.

Discover how Rock Your Beauty evolved from a charity event into a bold movement, helping women and girls reclaim confidence, self-love, and sanity in the digital age.

If you've ever doubted your worth, this conversation is for you.

Keep Disrupting,

Rob, CEO of Disruption Now & Chief Curator of MidwestCon