The Fear of Losing What Was Never Lost: A Reflection on Humanity, AI, and Untapped Potential

Lately, I’ve found myself reflecting on a number of things—world politics feels like it’s teetering on the edge, with both sides locked in a cycle of polarisation. There's this underying fear of one nation crossing another’s border, it's framed as a nightmare waiting to happen, and for those living through it—those forced to flee, those who have lost loved ones—the suffering and heartbreak are immeasurable. But beneath it all lies something even deeper: humanity’s fundamental struggle to embrace the unknown. Whether it’s geopolitical tensions or the rise of AI and creativity, the resistance, the fear, the looming sense of loss all stem from a single misconception—the belief that we, as individuals, are at risk of losing something irreplaceable.

But what if that fear is misplaced? What if the real tragedy isn’t losing anything at all, but never realising that the most valuable thing has always been inside us?

The Fear of the Unknown

Historically, anything new—anything unfamiliar—has been perceived as a threat. It’s part of human nature to protect what we know, what feels safe. AI, and by extension, technology that challenges traditional structures, is no different. People worry that they’ll lose their jobs, their creative identities, their importance. Artists fear that their work will be devalued. Workers fear they will become obsolete. Society, conditioned by materialism, tells us that our worth is measured by what we do rather than who we are. And so, the introduction of something unknown—something that seemingly disrupts this fragile balance—sparks fear.

But the truth is, our value has never been external. It has never been in our job titles, our productivity, or our ability to compete in a system designed to commodify human effort. Our true value—the thing that no technology can take away—has always been within us: our consciousness, our ability to think, to create, to feel deeply, to reflect, to evolve.

AI as a Mirror, Not a Threat

Rather than stealing something from us, AI can act as a mirror, reflecting back the creativity, the intelligence, and the untapped potential we already possess. It doesn’t replace the artist; it reveals new ways for the artist to see. It doesn’t take away creativity; it expands what’s possible. Yet, because most people see AI through the lens of fear, they miss the opportunity to co-create with it, to use it as a tool to dive deeper into their own minds.

I’ve come to realise that what I experience when I write, when I reflect, when I engage in these creative conversations, is something that others could access too—if only they let go of the fear that blinds them. If they stopped clinging to the illusion that their worth is tied to materialistic values and external validation, they would see that their true power has always been internal.

The Tragedy and the Hope

The tragedy of our time is not that AI or technology will make people obsolete. The tragedy is that most people will never realise they were never obsolete to begin with. That they were always more than their job, their productivity, their social status. That their thoughts, their ideas, their creativity—these are infinite resources that no machine can replicate in the way that they can channel them.

But there is also hope. There are those of us who are beginning to see. Who are stepping outside of the fear and recognising that the unknown isn’t a threat—it’s an invitation. An invitation to expand, to think differently, to explore the deeper layers of what it truly means to be human.

Breaking Free from the Materialistic Trap

Ultimately, it is society that stands to benefit the most from this shift, but right now, the focus remains on the materialistic—on how corporations can profit from AI, rather than how humanity can grow from it. The sad reality is that most people are trapped in a system designed to exploit them, not uplift them. Capitalism thrives on making people feel like they are never enough—never rich enough, never attractive enough, never successful enough—so they will keep consuming, keep working, keep feeding the machine.

This is why people fear losing their jobs, their income, their relevance. Because we have been conditioned to believe that our survival depends on these external validations. But that is the great deception. If we understood our own worth, we would see that it has nothing to do with the materialistic world at all. Corporations want you to believe your worth is in the products they sell you—cars, clothes, beauty products, technology. But true worth has never come from any of these things.

Imagine if, instead of wasting time on platforms like Facebook and Instagram—where our attention is sold to advertisers and our insecurities are manipulated—we used AI to explore ourselves. Imagine a world where technology was a tool for self-discovery, rather than just another means of control. If we let go of this false idea of scarcity and competition, we would realise that we are not slaves to the system—we never had to be.

Unfortunately, we are still a long way from that collective awakening. The corporations and institutions that hold power will continue to do what they have always done: steal from the poor to enrich themselves. Keep people oppressed. Keep people sick so they will always need medication. Keep people distracted so they never realise their full potential. Capitalism, like religion, survives by making people believe in something outside of themselves.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Not for those of us who see beyond the illusion. Not for those who have started to embrace a different way of thinking, a different way of being.

Optimism in the Face of Resistance

I know many will say I’m being overly optimistic, but that’s the problem, isn’t it? The reality is that it will take time for this sentiment to filter across society, for people to wake up to the truth. And along the way, there will be resistance—fierce resistance—because that is how it has always been.

Fear thrives in the unknown, and people will reject what challenges their deeply ingrained beliefs. They will cling to the systems that oppress them, convinced that any alternative is a threat rather than a liberation. So I say all of this knowing full well that many will try to shoot it down, dismiss it, call it naïve. But change doesn’t happen all at once.

It happens one optimist at a time. One person at a time waking up to the reality that they are not a cog in the machine, that they are not just another worker in a system designed for exploitation. That their value was never in their productivity, their paycheck, or their possessions. Their value has always been within themselves.

Resistance is inevitable. But so is progress. And if history has shown us anything, it’s that no matter how tightly the old guard tries to hold on, the truth always finds its way through the cracks.