Original video in Chinese.
Key Takeaway
- The essence of AI dividends is ownership of the means of production: AI is not merely a tool for efficiency, but a chance for ordinary people, for the first time, to own the “production system” that used to be controlled only by companies and capital (the full chain of topic selection - output - distribution - conversion - review). That is the real dividend, not continuing to sell your labor.
- The biggest tragedy many people are making right now: after getting AI, their first reaction is to use it to mass-produce images for clients, write copy, edit videos, and make PPTs, selling the combined time of themselves + AI to others at a low price. In essence, this is only an upgrade from “selling time” to “selling cheaper combined time”; your position has not changed at all, and you are still the downstream party.
- The core obstacle is mindset, not skill: the old levers (the gaokao, marriage, housing) needed someone else’s stamp of approval, while AI is a new lever (no stamp needed). But the hardest stamp is the one you put on your own brain—you don’t dare to own the means of production, don’t dare define products yourself, and don’t dare face the market. AI only amplifies your original imagination of production relations: if you believe in working for others, it will help you work for others more efficiently; only if you dare to own the means of production can you truly turn things around.
The biggest dividend of the AI era is not AI.
AI is just productivity. Put bluntly, it is just a tool.
So what is the real dividend?
It is that ordinary people can, for the first time, use AI to obtain the means of production that used to belong only to companies, capital, and professional teams.
So the value of AI is not just about improving efficiency—it completely changes ordinary people’s position in the production relations.
You are no longer limited to selling your time and labor.
You now have the chance to own your own production system.
What is a production system? Why is it the means of production?
For example: if you have an account with 100,000 followers, does that count as a means of production?
If you have a bit of experience, you know the platform can go after you whenever it wants, and it can reduce your reach or even ban you. The algorithm can also decide how many people see your work—100,000 followers does not mean 100,000 people can actually see you.
So I have never regarded an account as my means of production. It is just a piece of land the platform rents to me for free.
But the entire production system—from topic selection, output, distribution, and conversion all the way to review—is my means of production. Because it ensures that I can keep producing continuously. That is crucial.
Sustainable output means I won’t be tied down by an account. It is my content that determines the account’s value, not some follower count. If the account is gone, I can start a new one; it is no big deal. And in fact, the platform will even proactively give me money, hoping to keep me.
The platform owns the traffic entry point, but I own the production system. The entry point can be shut off, but this system cannot be taken away.
This is what I believe is the real dividend of the AI era: from an owner of labor power to an owner of the means of production.
But unfortunately, most people have no awareness of this at all.
After they master AI, their first instinct is not to own the means of production, but to keep selling labor.
For example, using AI to mass-produce images for clients, write copy, edit videos, and make PPTs.
Indeed, with AI, these jobs become cheaper, faster, and higher in volume. Of course, that can also make money.
But in essence, you are just selling the productivity of AI in your hands to someone else at a low price.
In the past, you sold your own time.
Now, you are selling the combined time of yourself plus AI.
It looks like an upgrade. But in reality, your position has not changed at all.
You are still the downstream party.
You are still waiting for demands.
You are still waiting for a quote.
You are still waiting for acceptance.
You are still waiting for someone else to approve whether you can make money.
Notice: this is not a skill problem; it is a mindset problem.
A lot of people have been domesticated for too long.
They don’t dare to own the means of production.
They don’t dare define products themselves.
They don’t dare face the market themselves.
They don’t dare build channels themselves.
They don’t dare bear the consequences of their own judgments.
So they always need to find a client.
They always need to find a boss.
They always need to find a platform.
They always need to find someone who can approve them making money.
I’ve said this point before:
The levers of the old era were the gaokao, marriage, and housing. What they had in common was that you had to wait for someone else to stamp them for you.
AI is the new lever. The defining feature of this new lever is that no stamp is needed.
But the thing about stamps—you think other people are the ones stamping them. In fact, the deepest stamp is the one you stamp onto your own brain.
If you don’t change your mindset, AI won’t do you any good.
I think the cruelest part of the AI era is right here:
With the exact same set of AI tools, some people use them to build their own production systems, while others just use them to turn themselves into cheaper labor.
The former are accumulating assets.
The latter are accelerating the rat race.
So AI will not automatically turn ordinary people around.
AI only amplifies a person’s original imagination of production relations.
If you only believe in working for others, it will help you work for others more efficiently.
If you dare to own the means of production, it will help you build your own system.
OK, that’s it for this episode. If you want to learn about AI, want to become a super individual, and want to find like-minded people, come join our newtype community. See you next time!