The double-edged code: How AI consultants like me are both building and breaking the future

Fast Company

6 days ago

I help companies and governments implement AI solutions that make them faster, leaner, and more profitable. I also know that with every project I complete, I'm contributing to the next wave of layoffs—and maybe even the next recession.
That's the uncomfortable truth most AI consultants won't say out loud. We love talking about optimization and cost savings. We're less eager to talk about the human costs—people whose jobs become 'redundant,' whose skills become obsolete, whose industries disappear faster than any government training program can catch up.
It's a strange feeling, being part of both the solution and the problem. But acknowledging it is the first step toward doing better.
The speed of AI adoption today is staggering. Unlike the industrial revolutions of the past, where technological change played out over generations, the AI revolution is moving faster than political systems, education systems, or even most companies can react. Governments are lagging behind. Workers are told to 'reskill'—but given little support. Waiting for policy fixes is no longer realistic.
Most proposed solutions feel thin. Reskilling programs sound good, but they struggle to scale. Universal Basic Income raises more questions than it answers, especially around who pays for it and how it affects innovation. Regulating AI may slow some dangers, but it won't stop the global race toward automation.
If we're honest, the standard solutions aren't enough.
But there is another path: One more powerful than slowing down or trying to contain AI; one that could create new industries, jobs, and wealth—not just in the U.S., but across the world.
The answer isn't Mars. It's Earth.
LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR PROSPERITY
Instead of looking to space for our next frontier, we need to look at regions right here on our planet that are still 50 years behind in basic development. Parts of Africa, South America, Asia, and the Middle East are still struggling with infrastructure gaps, energy poverty, limited health care, and broken education systems.
The opportunity is staggering—not just morally, but economically.
With the help of AI, automation, satellite internet, and renewable energy, we can leapfrog traditional development cycles. We can help entire regions skip decades of gradual industrialization and jump straight into the modern economy. And in doing so, we can create millions of jobs—not just abroad, but right here in the U.S.
This isn't wishful thinking. This is economics.
THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY OF GLOBAL GROWTH
When we help develop these regions, U.S. firms—from engineering companies to renewable energy providers to software developers—get paid to build the future. American consultants, architects, logistics managers, AI trainers, and contractors all have a role to play. These are exported services that drive real wealth creation at home. As these regions grow, they become new consumer markets for U.S. products, services, tourism, and education.
It's the Marshall Plan, version 2.0—only this time, fueled by AI.
Of course, this kind of development doesn't happen overnight. And yes, funding it responsibly matters. If we simply print money and throw it at the problem, we'll just fuel inflation and instability. But if private investors lead the charge—supported, not smothered, by public policy—we can create real, lasting value. Every road paved, every hospital built, every power grid modernized opens new channels of trade, education, and innovation.
The technology to do it is already in our hands. Starlink beams internet into remote villages without needing miles of cable. Solar microgrids can deliver electricity to communities never on a national grid. AI-powered health care systems can bring diagnostic tools to areas without enough doctors. AI-driven education can teach coding and technical skills where traditional schooling has failed.
There are already glimmers of this future. Mobile banking systems like M-Pesa transformed parts of Africa without ever building traditional banks. Telemedicine leapfrogged over the absence of hospitals in rural Asia. Now, with AI as an accelerator, the curve could steepen dramatically.
But it won't happen by accident. And it won't happen if we keep thinking small.
Building the next wave of global prosperity will require boldness, investment, and a willingness to think beyond our own borders. It will require companies, consultants, and entrepreneurs to look at underdeveloped regions not as charity cases, but as emerging partners in building a stronger, safer, more interconnected world.
HOW BUSINESS LEADERS CAN TAKE ACTION
Bridging the global development gap with the help of AI isn't a moonshot, but it does require intentional steps. Here's how companies, consultants, and entrepreneurs can start:
1. Conduct an 'impact-forward' audit.
Identify areas of your business that could create value beyond your current market—not just profit, but capability building. Look at where your tech, tools, or services could help modernize operations in underserved regions.
2. Build local partnerships early.
Don't parachute in. Partner with local entrepreneurs, NGOs, and educational institutions who know the landscape. Co-develop solutions that respect cultural and economic realities. These partners often hold the key to scale and sustainability.
3. Invest in pilot projects.
Rather than trying to 'save' a region with a massive rollout, start small. Run AI or automation pilot projects in logistics, agriculture, education, or health care that demonstrate ROI and social value. Document results, then scale what works.
4. Leverage global development funds.
Tap into the growing pool of public-private funding sources designed to support responsible global innovation, from USAID initiatives to ESG funds and impact investment capital.
5. Reinforce the feedback loop.
Use insights and tech developed abroad to enhance your domestic operations. The innovations born from constraints in emerging markets often yield breakthroughs in efficiency and scalability back home.
THE NEXT FRONTIER IS OURS TO BUILD
It's easy—and comfortable—to frame the AI revolution as something happening 'to us,' a force we just have to brace against. But that's a dangerous illusion.
The real question isn't whether AI will change the world. It's whether we will direct that change toward opportunity, or let it entrench inequality even further.
I believe we can choose better. I believe we must choose better.
The next frontier isn't millions of miles away in space. It's right here, waiting for us to build it—together.