Powered by Human
Elon Musk envisions a future where universal basic income supports society after AI handles most production tasks. It’s an interesting thought experiment, one that raises questions similar to those in the communist manifesto about what happens when technology fundamentally changes the means of production.
But here’s what Musk’s vision misses: In a world where AI can generate infinite outputs instantly, human service doesn’t become obsolete. It becomes premium. Not because humans are scarce, but because human expertise can be objectively better when properly augmented by AI.
With AI now an inseparable part of our society, we’re at an inflection point where professionals using the exact same AI tools are heading in completely different economic directions.
Path 1: The Commoditized Professional
Uses AI to work faster
Delivers more outputs in less time
But the outputs aren’t more valuable
Result: Competes on speed and price with AI-only alternatives, inevitably loses
Path 2: The Premium Professional
Uses AI to work differently
Delivers outcomes AI alone cannot
Each output is more valuable because it’s contextualized, verified, strategically sound
Result: Commands premium pricing because outcomes are objectively superior
Same technology. Different practices. Completely different economic futures.
What “Augmented Value” Actually Means
Let’s be specific. AI augmentation isn’t a vague concept. It has concrete characteristics that separate premium service from commodity work.
The Three Levels of AI Usage:
Substitution is the most basic level, where you use AI instead of doing work yourself. It creates faster execution, but this is commodity pricing. Anyone can replace manual effort with AI, so there’s no premium in speed alone.
Enhancement means using AI to improve your existing work, producing better versions of the same output. This creates incremental value that might command slightly higher prices. You’re marginally better and marginally more valuable, but the difference isn’t transformative.
Augmentation is using AI to accomplish what you couldn’t do before, creating entirely new categories of value. This is premium service because you’re solving problems AI alone cannot. You’re not just faster or slightly better. You’re delivering outcomes that weren’t previously possible.
Think about these two scenarios:
Consider two marketing consultants, both using the same AI tools, serving similar clients.
The Commodity Approach: The first consultant uses AI to generate five campaign concepts in minutes. She picks the one that looks most polished and presents it to the client. Her pitch: “Look how fast I delivered this.” The client thinks: “I could have done this myself with ChatGPT.”
The Premium Approach: The second consultant uses AI to generate five campaign concepts in minutes. She presents these five concepts as examples of what competitors are likely doing. “These are very likely what your competitors are producing using ChatGPT. We can do better than that.” Then she works with the client to analyze the AI proposals, examining what can be reimagined, what can be enhanced, and what they can develop to stand out from the AI-generated ideas. The result is a truly unique campaign that competitors can’t replicate by simply prompting AI.
The first consultant is competing on speed. The second is delivering judgment. One commands commodity rates. The other commands premiums. The difference isn’t the AI tool. It’s the practice of using that tool to augment expertise rather than replace effort.
The Practice Gap Most Professionals Haven’t Crossed
Most people think using AI means typing prompts and delivering outputs. That’s substitution, not augmentation.
In a world where AI can generate infinite marketing campaigns, business strategies, designs, and analyses at near-zero cost, what makes human service worth a premium? Definitely not scarcity. Humans use AI to achieve superior outcomes.
Premium human service in the AI age delivers three things AI alone cannot:
Contextual Judgment. AI generates options based on patterns. Humans determine which options actually work in this specific situation, with these specific constraints, for this specific goal. A recommendation that works for most companies might be disastrous for yours. Human expertise makes that distinction.
Strategic Meaning. AI processes information and identifies correlations. Humans determine what that information actually means for your business, why it matters, and what you should do about it. The difference between data and insight is human interpretation.
Guaranteed Outcomes. AI provides outputs with statistical confidence. Humans provide guarantees backed by reputation: “This will work because I’ve seen this pattern before, I understand your constraints, and I’m staking my professional credibility on this recommendation.”
These aren’t luxuries. They’re fundamentally different categories of value that command premium pricing because they deliver measurably better results.
The Market Is Separating Right Now
Here’s what’s happening across industries today:
The low-cost incentive will inevitably disrupt the market as we are experiencing now. Marketing agencies that use AI to produce more campaigns faster are competing on price. Consultants who use AI to generate faster analysis reports are being compared to AI-only tools. Designers who use AI to create more design variations are commoditizing their output.
When mass production reaches commoditization, demand for premium output arises. Marketing agencies that use AI to produce campaigns that actually work for specific client contexts are commanding premiums. Consultants who use AI to generate insights they couldn’t before, and explain why those insights matter specifically for this client, are raising their rates. Designers who use AI to explore possibility spaces and then apply aesthetic and strategic judgment to select what will actually resonate with specific audiences are positioning themselves as premium services.
The dividing line isn’t the technology. Everyone has access to the same AI tools. The dividing line is the practice of using those tools to augment value rather than just automate tasks.
The Premium Human Future
Humans who know how to augment AI output will command premium returns. This isn’t in conflict with the utopian vision of universal basic income freeing society from poverty and inequality. Both can coexist.
Universal income may provide the foundation, ensuring basic security for all. But humans who know how to use AI to produce new value remain precious. There is no conflict between equality of income and recognition of intelligence. Humans will be rewarded for practicing AI to improve the world.
Good humans deserve to be praised as premium, not universal. The premium service pledge of tomorrow is powered by human expertise that knows how to make AI outputs genuinely valuable. That expertise, that practice, that judgment will always command recognition beyond the baseline.
We’re already seeing this distinction emerge. A prominent television creator recently felt compelled to add a disclaimer to their new show: “Made by humans.” It’s telling that in 2025, this has become a badge of honor, a signal of quality worth declaring. But the real insight isn’t that human-made content exists. It’s that “Made by humans” increasingly means something specific: made by humans who know how to use AI to discover new potentials, improve economic value, and create what couldn’t exist before.
The future belongs to those who understand that “Made by humans” isn’t about rejecting AI. It’s about mastering it. The premium isn’t in avoiding the tools. It’s in knowing how to use them to create value that stands apart.
