Last week, I took a few days away from preparing for this year’s BC Founders Day and escaped into the British Columbia wilderness.

I’ve written before about the importance of finding what recharges you. For me, a few days in nature (preferably somewhere devoid of cell phone coverage) is ideal. One reason why I do this on a regular basis is because of how it rejuvenates me. The healing benefits of spending time in nature have been proven time and time again (not only is it okay to go outside, it will make you more effective as a founder).

But there’s another reason why nature is my preferred escape: it forces me completely out of the bubble of Startupland™.

Usually when I head into the wilderness, I use the time to reset and reflect. When I go with my kids (as was the case last week), I try to simply focus on them (p.s. if you haven’t gone camping with kids before, it really is one of the best things in life).

Despite nature throwing an atmospheric river at us — after nearly 60 days of pure sunshine, no less — our brief trip into the woods was an undeniable success. There was exploring, swimming, laughing, getting dirty, getting frustrated, overcoming challenges and, of course, s’mores.

You know what there wasn’t any of? AI.

The only prompting I did was trying to get my boys to help wash the dishes. The only agent I encountered with was the one checking tickets for BC Ferries.

AI didn’t help us put up the tent when we arrived late to our campsite and it didn’t make it any easier to anchor a tarp over the picnic table when the skies suddenly opened up.

I wasn’t expecting to have any work-related epiphanies on this particular trip, but as I sat on my well-worn REI camping chair, I was struck by how wide the gap had become between Startupland™ and the outside world since the emergence of AI. There is always a sizable distance between the tech world’s obsession-of-the-moment and the perspective of the rest of society. But it feels like the current AI-centric gap is closer to a chasm.

If you’re like me, you’ve probably had a lot of conversations with other residents of Startupland™ recently that leave you feeling like we’re all in a mad rush to maintain relevance. Investors and founders are sprinting to capture market share, CEOs are rushing to make their workforce AI-native, and everyone seems desperate to leverage AI and agents any and every way possible.

But in the rest of the world? Not so much.

That’s not to say that the masses aren’t already benefiting from AI. It’s creeping into everyone’s cell phones, search tools and social media. But in many industries, AI isn’t really changing anything. And it probably won’t anytime soon.

AI won’t change how the friendly campground hosts we met on our trip welcome visiting campers. It won’t change how the small town ice cream store we stopped at doles out scoops of ice cream to wide-eyed children. Nor will it change the operations of the mini golf course we played at, the local bait and tackle store we bought supplies at, or the fish-and-chip shop we patronized before boarding our ferry.

And while it might be easy to dismiss these as niche examples that only representing the long-tail of the economy, such observations are increasingly being made by larger players. Earlier this summer, Thomas Bravo raised nearly $35 Billion for three new funds. The firm’s co-founder and managing partner, Orlando Bravo, was asked how they leverage AI and where he saw potential,

"Summarizing data. But right now there is not a compelling use case we see that will dramatically affect how we add value."

Around the same time, Jason Lemkin of Saastr made this observation,

I’m certainly not trying to downplay the impact and importance of AI — to the tech world or beyond. AI represents the most significant technological advancement in a generation. But it’s worth remembering that there are a lot of places where AI isn’t necessarily top of mind.

Generational wealth will undoubtedly be made by many working in and around AI. But there are also an incredible number of opportunities that remain for founders willing to look where others don’t.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

AI Won’t Actually Change Everything

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