The Soul Problem in the Age of AI

Elon Musk recently made headlines again—this time not just for rockets or electric cars, but for a simple, chilling statistic: he believes there’s a 20% chance that AI could wipe out humanity within the next ten years. It’s a bold claim, but it wasn’t what struck me most.

What really got under my skin was what he said almost in passing: that the greatest challenge humanity may face in the age of AI is fulfilment. The search for meaning.

This wasn’t the headline. It wasn’t the clip that got all the replays. But it was, for me, the most important sentence in the entire interview. It was like someone whispering a truth behind a wall of noise.

In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl—neurologist, psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor—wrote, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear almost any ‘how’.” His message is as relevant now as it ever was. Technology is advancing faster than any of us can fully grasp. AI is writing scripts, designing logos, diagnosing illness, driving cars, solving equations, and yes—even correcting our spelling.

I remember the first time I noticed the impact of spell check. Suddenly, I didn’t have to fully think through how a word was spelled. I could rely on the machine. And over time, I noticed my spelling ability slipping. Something small, yes. But revealing.

Now imagine that same pattern applied to everything. What happens when machines anticipate our needs, answer our questions, create our art, and even simulate our emotions? What happens when we don’t have to try anymore?

We may still be alive. But will we be living?

Without the pursuit of meaning, we drift. We lose our edge. Our depth. Our need to connect, to struggle, to create, to strive. Meaning isn’t a luxury—it’s the thing that anchors us. Frankl knew that better than most. He survived the unimaginable by holding on to the one thing no one could take from him: his ‘why.’

If AI truly becomes the force we expect it to be—not just intelligent, but predictive, anticipatory, perhaps even “empathetic”—then the biggest existential question isn’t whether it will kill us. It’s whether it will hollow us out from within.

A world without effort may seem like a paradise. But paradise without purpose quickly becomes a prison.

My mother used to say something I’d laugh at when I was younger: “Suffering is good for you.” I used to roll my eyes at it, the way you do with the things parents say that sound more like riddles than wisdom. But as I’ve grown older, sat with people in pain, and looked back at my own journey, I’ve come to understand what she meant.

Suffering, when held with meaning, can shape us. It can deepen us. It can remind us what matters. Without challenge, there’s no resilience. Without struggle, no growth. Without meaning, we lose the thread of what connects us to ourselves and to each other.

So as we hurtle toward a future where machines can do more and more for us, let’s not forget to ask: what is being left to us? And more importantly, what is being left within us?

If you’re feeling disconnected, adrift, or questioning your place in a world that’s changing fast—pause. Reflect. Reach out. Find your ‘why.’

Because if we lose meaning, we lose the very thing that makes us human.