Part 2 of 3: Silent Sorting

In the 1980s, computers arrived in offices.

Executives had a problem.

They could not type. Typing was for secretaries. So executives kept dictating memos. Secretaries took shorthand. Then typed everything up.

This worked fine.

Until other executives started typing their own memos directly into computers. Faster. No waiting. No secretary needed.

The executives who refused to learn typing kept insisting it was beneath them. They would say things like "That's what I pay people for."

Meanwhile, the executives who learned typing were getting promoted.

Nobody talked about it. No meetings about typing skills. No announcements. But the results spoke clearly.

Some people adapted. Others refused.

The adapters looked modern and efficient. The resisters looked stubborn and slow.

This same pattern happens with every new technology. AI will do the same thing.

Some people will use AI to write and think better. Others will say it is cheating. The first group will seem impossibly productive. The second group will seem impossibly behind.

We tell ourselves we have time to decide.

But the divide is already happening.