Let’s skip the preamble and dive straight into the heart of this piece, as the title promises. I have zero interest in repeating tired clichés about how AI is steamrolling its way into the daily lives of us soft, fleshy mortals, or how it’s about to replace your neighbor who dabbles in graphic design. We’re not witnessing just another trend — this is a paradigm shift. The point isn’t to surrender to it, but to adapt.
Let’s talk about human freedom for a moment. Way back in 1775, a certain phrase began making the rounds: “Give me liberty, or give me death!” — that famous line from Patrick Henry, delivered just weeks before the American Revolutionary War kicked off. The slogan was crisp, bold, and painfully clear in its intent. It outlined, in no uncertain terms, what part of humanity was willing to fight for — and why.
Later, this motto evolved into another battle cry: “Live free or die.” This one came from General John Stark, another veteran of the Revolution. In 1809, too ill to attend the anniversary of the Battle of Bennington in person, he sent in a written toast: “Live free or die; Death is not the worst of evils.”
Think about it. These weren’t just rallying cries — they were north stars for entire generations. They helped people frame what mattered, what was worth fighting for, changing for, and striving toward. With time, these slogans morphed to match the needs of each new era: from fighting for freedom, to chasing productivity, success, survival in the age of competition. Society has always been in search of a new survival manual tailored to the crisis du jour.
Footnote: I apologize in advance for this breezy historical recap. I’m not a historian, and I promise not to turn this into a full-blown academic scroll. It’s already longer than your ex’s Instagram story about their trip to Africa.
Anyway, it gets juicier. As the global economy grew and the world got more crowded, new slogans made their way into our collective psyche: “Do or die,” for instance — a favorite of early industrialists hustling for their first million Franklins. Then came the age of “Delegate or die”, “Change or accept death” and many more things to do or consider the alternative in the form of harakiri. And now, welcome to the AI age — yes, I’m saying it out loud — where the only slogan that still fits on the bumper sticker is:
Adapt or die.
Metaphorically speaking, of course. Probably.
Nobody talks about “freedom” the way they used to. Let’s be honest: humanity is already tethered to the digital Four Horsemen of the 5G Apocalypse, galloping straight at us from the glowing portals of our phones. And it’s not like we can fight back. Most of us simply don’t have the time or resources. Why? Because a huge part of our lives now lives in our phones. And no, I’m not just talking about dopamine junkies hooked on scrolling and social feeds.
I’m talking about people like us — professionals who run their businesses, lives, and relationships through that six-to-seven inch brick that holds our secrets, bank accounts, emails, decks, and lifelines to the outside world.
And with that in mind, maybe what Patrick Henry and John Stark fought for — maybe that’s already gone. I know, I’m exaggerating. Maybe even leaning into melodrama. But you get the point: freedom now lives on the other side of a touchscreen, one fingerprint away.
Still, I don’t think freedom has vanished. I think it’s morphed. It’s just wearing a new skin. I believe new kinds of freedom exist in the digital world — I mean, we’re not throwing around terms like Web3 for nothing, right?
This article was originally meant to be about “What’s in the Chief Editor’s AI Folder,” but as I started reflecting, this tangent hijacked my brain. Don’t worry — I will share what’s in that folder in future posts. I’ll walk you through my own adaptation: how my role has evolved in media, creativity, and business. Whether I nailed the landing… or totally blew it. Or maybe I’m blowing it as we speak. But I’ll always remember the curse of short-form thinking we all (or hopefully not all) suffer from — so I won’t drag this out any further.
One last thing. A good friend of mine once said:
“If you can’t manage chaos — lead it.”
So I’ll leave you with two questions to chew on:
Is this chaos already here? And are we the ones leading it?