** In a world of infinite content and scalable intelligence, the scarcest resource may no longer be intelligence itself — but the ability to truly see another human being, and to be seen in return.**

By Sinclair Huang

I walked into a bookstore — and realised something uncomfortable

A few days ago, I walked into a bookstore.

Surrounded by shelves of books — many of them thoughtful, deeply human, and difficult to summarise — I had a quiet realisation:

> Some of the most important ideas about work, dignity, and human connection are not even inside AI.

Not because they are hidden.

But because they are not easily machine-readable.

A rejection that had nothing to do with quality

Around the same time, I received a desk rejection from a journal.

The reason was familiar:

> “We are receiving a very high number of outstanding submissions.”

At first glance, it sounds like a quality filter.

But it isn’t.

It is a capacity constraint.

We are no longer limited by knowledge production.

We are limited by the capacity to pay attention.

So the system adapts.

Not by thinking deeper,

but by filtering faster.

We are not just scaling content — we are industrialising thinking

This pattern is not limited to academic publishing.

It is happening everywhere:

  • AI-generated content flooding online platforms

  • Knowledge work optimised for output rather than insight

  • Decision systems driven by metrics, not meaning

> We are not just automating tasks. We are industrialising thinking.

And I am not outside this system.

I use AI tools every day — to structure ideas, draft faster, and explore directions I might not have reached alone.

Some days, I can produce in hours what used to take days.

And yet, the more I produce, the more I feel something else shrinking:

The probability that anyone will actually read, think, and respond with the same level of attention.

> I am both accelerating the system — and being compressed by it.

The AI stack — and what it cannot see

In recent years, we have become familiar with the structure of the AI economy:

  • Energy & Land

  • Semiconductors & Photonics

  • Compute & Infrastructure

  • Models & Applications

This is the architecture of computable value.

But walking through a department store recently, I was reminded of everything that does not fit neatly into that stack.

I went there simply to have dinner and feel some human presence.

I browsed a few stores, stepped into a bookstore, and eventually sat down for a meal with my wife.

The main dish came out slightly wrong.

At first, we couldn’t quite name it — just a faint sense that something was off.

Only later did we realise the bottom was burnt.

We had already eaten most of it.

Our first instinct was to let it go.

Almost reluctantly, we mentioned it to the server.

They did not argue.

They did not hide behind policy.

They did not explain.

They simply apologised, removed the dish from the bill, and insisted on sending us dessert.

It was a small gesture.

Economically trivial.

But emotionally precise.

> “You noticed something was wrong. You told us. We saw you — and we cared enough to repair it.”

The moment that stayed with me was not the mistake.

> It was the repair.

Because that is where human connection actually happens — not in perfect execution, but in the willingness to notice, acknowledge, and respond.

The missing layer: connective labour

There is a kind of work that does not live inside the AI stack.

Sociologist Allison Pugh calls it connective labour.

This is not the same thing as emotional labour.

It is not the same thing as emotional intelligence.

It is something else entirely:

> Work that depends on whether one human being can truly “see” another — and whether the other person feels seen.

It exists between people.

And precisely because of that, it cannot be fully automated.

For me, this is the missing layer in so much of today’s discussion about AI and productivity.

What cannot be scaled may become the most valuable

I was reminded of this again in a different setting — lying on a massage table.

The contrast between a human therapist and a high-end massage chair is obvious when you are the one in discomfort.

A machine can reproduce patterns.

It can memorise pressure points, cycle through modes, and surround you with premium materials.

But a person can notice you.

They can feel tension on one side.

Pause. Adjust.

Respond to something you never explicitly said.

> The difference is not just quality.

> It is shared attention.

Between pattern execution

and human presence.

We tell ourselves we are used to machines.

We lower expectations.

And yet, whenever someone offers a small moment of real care, we feel immediately how rare — and how cheap, in absolute terms — it actually is.

Writing as connective labour

For me, writing has always been a form of connective labour.

Not just producing content,

but reaching toward someone I cannot see.

Hoping that somewhere, a reader pauses and feels:

> “This is exactly where I am.”

But in a system optimised for throughput, that kind of connection becomes harder to sustain.

Not because it has lost value — but because there is less and less space for it to land.

The real shift: not loss, but displacement

AI does not eliminate human connection.

> It removes the conditions under which a connection can happen.

And in doing so, it pushes human interaction to the margins.

That is the deeper tension of this moment.

Not that technology is making us less human by force.

But that it is making everything without human connection more efficient — and therefore pushing the relational, slower, more fragile parts of human life out of the system’s core.

A bifurcated future

We are beginning to see two parallel worlds emerge.

The optimised world

  • scalable

  • efficient

  • automated

  • abundant

The human world

  • relational

  • time-intensive

  • scarce

  • increasingly expensive

We see this in:

  • concierge medicine vs. overloaded public systems

  • personalised services vs standardised platforms

  • deep mentorship vs. mass education

But increasingly, we see it in smaller moments too.

In a restaurant that quietly absorbs a mistake and makes it right.

In a therapist who notices what you didn’t say.

In a human interaction that slows down just enough to matter.

These are not extraordinary acts.

They are small.

But they require something that does not scale:

> time, attention, and the willingness to be interrupted by another human being.

The uncomfortable question

So the question is no longer:

> Will AI replace human work?

But:

> Will human connection become something you have to step outside the system to find?

And beyond that:

> Who will still be able to afford access to it?

Final thought

In a world of infinite content and scalable intelligence,

> The scarcest resource may no longer be intelligence.

It may be:

> the ability to truly see another human being — and to be seen in return.

About the Author

Sinclair Huang is an independent researcher writing at the intersection of AI, infrastructure, and capital markets. He holds an EDBA from HEC Liège and focuses on how technological systems reshape value creation, organisational structure, and the conditions under which human judgment still matters.

Disclaimer

This essay reflects the author’s personal analysis and commentary. It is provided for informational and discussion purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice, legal advice, medical advice, or professional guidance of any kind.

Further Reading

  1. Allison Pugh, The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World.

  2. Reach Out and Read Podcast, “The Last Human Job: Part 1” featuring Allison Pugh.

  3. Family Action Network, conversation with Allison Pugh on The Last Human Job.

  4. Arlie Russell Hochschild, The Managed Heart.

  5. Sherry Turkle, Alone Together.

References

  • Pugh, Allison. The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World. Princeton University Press, 2024.

  • Navsaria, Dipesh, host. “The Last Human Job: Part 1” featuring Allison Pugh. Reach Out and Read Podcast.

  • Family Action Network (FAN). “The Last Human Job” conversation with Allison Pugh. YouTube.

  • Hochschild, Arlie Russell. The Managed Heart: Commercialisation of Human Feeling. University of California Press.

  • Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. Basic Books.

Suggested Hashtags

#AI #FutureOfWork #HumanConnection #ConnectiveLabor #AIandSociety #KnowledgeWork #HumanCapital #Automation #Management #AIandAlpha