From Streetlights to AI: Lessons in Fear, Change, and Opportunity

I was recently listening to a podcast with Simon Sinek where he shared a story about Thomas Edison and the invention of the light bulb. At the time, people weren’t just skeptical, they were scared. Electricity was new, unfamiliar, and disruptive. Communities had to put up signs to educate the public, explain the benefits, and reduce the fear of this strange new force.

That conversation came up again while having coffee with a friend, who described a picture he had seen of the very first night New York City switched on electricity. He said the crowd split into two camps. In the front stood the dreamers and builders, those already thinking about how to scale this invention, how to monetize it, and how to create industries around it. In the back stood the skeptics, the streetlight workers, wondering if this invention would take away their jobs.

Fast forward to today, and I see the same dynamic playing out with artificial intelligence.

For some, AI is a wave of opportunity: how can we innovate, simplify, accelerate, and open new markets? For others, it feels like a threat: will this take my job, my process, my relevance?

The truth is, both perspectives are valid. Just as electricity has changed the way we live, work, and play, AI will do the same. Some roles will fade, others will evolve, and entirely new categories will be born. However, history reminds us that the future favors those who step into the forefront.

The light bulb didn’t just illuminate streets; it lit the path for entire industries. AI is doing the same. The question is: where will you stand when the lights come on?