I felt compelled to write this because, out of everything I’ve been reading on AI lately (including a lot of studies), I didn’t expect to come across such a sharp take in David Epstein’s Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.

As some of you know, I’ve been deep in my own research on the future of work and AI. But that’s not why I picked up Range. I’ll probably get into that in another post.

What struck me right away was how Epstein lays out one of the clearest and most grounded arguments I’ve seen for why humans will continue to have an advantage over AI. Put simply, we’re better at navigating ambiguity, especially when the rules of the game are not clear.

Also, through a story about Kasparov and freestyle chess (chess with teams of humans and computers working together dubbed "centaurs"), Epstein makes another compelling point.

“If Deep Blue’s victory over Kasparov signaled the transfer of chess power from humans to computers, the victory of centaurs over Hydra symbolized something more interesting still: humans empowered to do what they do best, without the prerequisite of specialized pattern recognition.”

The most effective players were not grandmasters or supercomputers. They were amateurs with decent machines and strong strategic skills. They knew how to think big picture while using both the technology and the experts. They knew how to coach the system.

Although Kasparov was speaking about Chess-playing computers and not LLMs, I think the point he's making holds true for AI.

As I said on X, AI is flooding the market with cheap competence. Expertise is no longer gatekept. And in that kind of landscape, those who can think strategically, coach humans and computers together, and navigate ambiguity are in a prime position going forward.

This further confirms what I’ve understood so clearly over the last four years. That my broad skillset, big picture thinking, and strong strategic abilities are not diminished by AI. They are amplified by it.

Send it their way. It might say what they’ve been needing to hear.

Don’t let the next one slip by.

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