The rise of AI has led to a common prediction: the value of knowledge work is plummeting. With powerful tools that can generate text, summarize information, and write code in seconds, it seems that the days of high-value human expertise are numbered. After all, if an AI can do it, why would anyone pay a person to?
This view, however, misses a crucial point. While AI may devalue first-order knowledge work (the direct creation of information), it simultaneously elevates the value of second-order knowledge work—the critical act of curating, applying, and refining that information.
Think of it like cooking. Almost everyone has the basic skills and ingredients to cook a meal at home. Yet, people still flock to restaurants and pay for food they could technically make themselves. Why? Because they’re paying for convenience, expertise, and a superior result. They don’t want to deal with the mental and physical effort of planning, shopping, and cooking.
The same principle applies to knowledge work in the age of AI. AI can provide the raw ingredients—the information—but humans are still needed to act as the master chefs. We can use AI to generate an initial draft, but it’s our human insight and expertise that turn it into a compelling article. We can use AI to summarize a research paper, but it’s our critical thinking that applies those findings to a real-world problem.
People will always be willing to pay to avoid the mental “bother” of figuring things out themselves. AI tools will make knowledge more accessible, but they won’t eliminate the human desire for a shortcut to a finished, high-quality product.
Therefore, knowledge work isn’t disappearing; it’s simply changing form. Instead of being paid to create information from scratch, we’ll be paid to use AI as a powerful tool to create something of even greater value: curated, well-applied, and deeply insightful solutions. The future of knowledge work isn’t about competing with AI—it’s about leveraging it to our advantage.
Uthando Nethemba 