Audio Transcript
Welcome to today’s Satsang. Today’s topic is based on Sid’s recommendation, but I have been getting similar requests and similar anxiety and existential threat from many others regarding AI.
The Disturbing Reality of the AI Revolution
So, the disturbing thing about the AI revolution which has arrived is that when this AI revolution was portrayed in movies years back, it was portrayed as if AI would rise up and attack humanity.
But the disturbing bit, when it arrived, is that it didn’t attack us. It started imitating us. And that’s the disturbing part.
The AI writes like you, it designs like you, it codes like you, and it does it at a speed that is way faster than what humans can do.
A New Type of Anxiety
And this is a new type of anxiety.
In fact, the University of Florida has come up with a new clinical framework, and that’s very recent in 2026. They call it AIRD – AI Replacement Dysfunction.
So that’s a clinical name for this dread, anxiety, and stress which AI is causing.
AIRD AI Replacement Dysfunction describes a constellation of symptoms which arise not from actual job loss, but from the persistent threat of it. And the symptoms include anxiety, insomnia, paranoia, loss of professional identity, worthlessness, hopelessness, anger, and resentment.
The Psychological Impact of Anticipating Catastrophe
Another interesting thing which has been already established in psychology is that the chronic anticipation of a catastrophe damages mental health as severely as the catastrophe itself.
So, the human brain and mind are not designed to continuously live in a state of uncertainty and impending catastrophes. That anticipation of the future, of something really awful happening in the future can severely damage mental health.
Did AI Create This Crisis?
And did AI create this crisis, or was there something else in us which is being revealed by AI?
On the surface, of course, there is a constant apprehension of what the world will look like in the next few years and what my job will be. But the deeper layer of that anxiety is this: if what I do can be replicated, what am I? Am I more than what I do? What is my value? Will I become irrelevant if I’m replaced?
And that is the question AI has handed out to humanity now.
AI Fear as a Spiritual Question
And I think it is a very spiritual question, this AI terror, and nobody in the spiritual or productivity space is talking about it. This AI terror and fear are pointing somewhere very important.
So, as I said, this anxiety that we feel about AI is a revelation of something deeper.
Identity Built on What We Do
And that is that we have built our own identities on what we do. Your value in your own private mind is measured by your output or by your usefulness.
If you see people as they get older, though they have economic stability and financial security, they feel they are not useful anymore.
So, there are two measures here: measures of your output and measures of your usefulness. These measures were handed out to everyone since we were children. They appeared in school report cards and in job titles. Whenever we produced more and were more efficient, we were always rewarded and praised.
So, the market rewarded your specific skill set. You traded time for money, and you traded mind for meaning.
But now that entire functional self—I call it the functional self because it performs a particular function in the world—that particular functional identity is under threat.
A Threat Our Brain Was Not Designed For
And this threat is very different from what our brain evolved to handle.
If you see our nervous system, it is not built for this rapid speed, this accelerating speed of AI development. The brain evolved to track predators and physical threats. These threats could be named, you could plan for them, you could fight, or you could run.
But AI does not threaten you directly. It is not a physical or direct threat. It renders you irrelevant. It removes entire categories of human jobs completely. And the nervous system is not meant or created to handle that kind of threat.
The Fight-or-Flight Response Without an Enemy
So, anxiety is fight or flight. Where will you fight, and what will you flee from?
You cannot fight this revolution, and you cannot run from it either. So, this energy turns inward, and that’s what creates this massive spike of existential threat which millions of people are going through right now.
Why Spiritual Seekers May Handle It Better
It is not only spiritual people. I think spiritual people are much better placed to handle this threat, at least on a psychological level.
People who are walking the path understand on some level that this self-identity which is built on a job—on what I am and how useful I am—is another construct.
But millions and millions of people who are being made redundant, or whose jobs are at stake, might not have access to this teaching. They might not be following the path of becoming more conscious, and for them their identity, their job, their functional self is all they know.
So of course they are really, really terrified.
What Does Spirituality Offer in This Moment?
And what does spirituality offer in a moment like this?
Is it sitting cross-legged and thinking pleasant thoughts, or accepting everything passively—accepting disruption and job losses with a smile of detachment? No, I’m not pointing to that. That is just spiritual bypassing. What genuine spiritual inquiry into this entire phenomenon offers is far more deeper.
Questioning the Core Premise
It questions the premise itself. And the premise is this: I am what I do.
My worth lives in my function. If my function is replaced, I become irrelevant.
Even when you go out and meet other people, the first thing that we ask is, “What do you do?” “What do you work as?” It has become so ingrained that it feels like a question about what you are.
The Hidden Measurement of Self-Worth
And you’ll notice that a lot of your self-worth will shift depending on how well you are doing at your job. If you are unemployed, if your business is making a lot of profit, or if your business is making a lot of loss, even unconsciously we measure these things internally. We might criticize ourselves or feel shame and guilt.
But this is how society created us.
The Real Source of Suffering
So, this premise—that identity built on function—is the actual source of suffering.
AI is just revealing or exposing it. The spiritual inquiry is to ask: Who is here when the job title is removed? What remains when all titles are taken away, the skill is made obsolete, and the role is automated?
Is there something that cannot be automated or uploaded?
Discovering the Source of Identity
And so, we come to something which is the very source of your identity: presence.
Machines might take away everything, but your presence is your own. Spiritual inquiry for centuries has always been pointing to this presence.
Facing the Anxiety Directly
So, I’m not saying this anxiety is not real. It is real. The practical disruptions are real. But instead of trying to outrun it, or trying to drown in the anxiety and fear, can we look at it directly and give it space?
The problems are real, but what is my reaction to that problem? If I am psychologically in a place full of turmoil and anxiety, how will I adapt to that challenge?
The Two Challenges We Face
Because now we have two issues.
One is adapting to this AI revolution. The second is fighting or resisting the panic, anxiety, stress, and hopelessness that arise along with it. So, for this you will have to sit first with the basic question:
Who am I if I have none of these things?
Even if I am made obsolete, what is my worth? What is my value?
Different Answers to the Same Question
Whatever answer you give will reveal your own yardstick of identity.
For some, the answer would be: it doesn’t matter. Even if I lose everything, I still have this presence. I am. For some, it will be somewhere in the middle. They will say, yes, it affects me. I don’t know what I will do. I don’t know how I will earn my living. And for some, it will be terror.
Because that future—of being replaced and becoming irrelevant—threatens their very identity.
The Fear of the Future
But also remember: this is the future. It has not happened now. Right now, you are sitting in a room. You are breathing. You are present. The world has not fallen apart.
So, this fear is anticipatory. And spirituality again has a big lesson for us here: to be in what is, rather than be terrified of a future which might or might not come to pass.
The Hidden Gift Inside the Disruption
So, as we move forward in the coming years, there will be more disruption. But I see that there is a gift buried inside this. It is a very historical moment that we are going through.
And the gift is this:
AI will force humanity to confront the question, “What am I really?” If AI can do everything that I can do, what am I as a human being?
And maybe that is where humanity as a whole might be standing on a threshold—where we transition into some form of inquiry, self-inquiry, which people on the spiritual path have been doing for ages.