A friend of mine put up a post on the weekend that stopped me in my tracks.
It was about AI, jobs, automation — the usual anxiety. But reading it, I kept thinking: the fear isn't really about robots. The fear is about losing something. Something we can't quite name but know we need.
And that got me thinking about this properly. So here's what I actually believe.
We've been here before
The telephone changed everything. And I mean everything — for the first time in human history, you could hear someone's voice from across the world. That was wild. It still kind of is.
Then TV arrived. Then the internet. Then social media, which promised to connect us more than ever.
And in some ways, it did. But there's a line I keep coming back to — we're more connected, but we're also more disconnected. More contact, less depth. More information, less wisdom. More noise, less inner peace.
Every new technology gives us something. But it also costs us something. The question is whether we're paying attention to what we're losing.
What is the Real Threat?
When people talk about AI, they go straight to jobs. Will it replace us? Will companies use it to cut costs and get rid of people? These are fair questions. I'm not dismissing them.
But I think there's a quieter threat underneath all of that.
When we're disconnected — from ourselves, from each other, from nature — we're easier to scare. Easier to divide. Easier to pull into panic and outrage and fear. We stop trusting ourselves. We start reacting to everything instead of responding from somewhere solid inside us.
That's what I keep coming back to. Not just what technology does to us. What disconnection does to us.
Connection to yourself
This is where it starts. And I know that sounds like something you'd see on a motivational poster, but stay with me.
We live in a world that is constantly telling us what to think and what to feel. The news tells us what to worry about. Social media shows us who we should be comparing ourselves to. Algorithms keep feeding us whatever keeps us scrolling.
And somewhere in all of that, we lose our own voice.
So here's a simple thing I'd encourage you to try. Get your journal, or even just your notes app and write: Right now, I feel... and then actually finish the sentence. Not what you think you should feel. Not what the news has been telling you to feel. Take the time to recognize what you actually feel.
Or try this one: say no to something this week that feels like a drain. Just one thing. See what that's like.
These aren't dramatic acts. But they're yours.
Connection to other people
Here in Cyprus they say Ti Kanis when they greet you — how are you? Same as in Australia, we say how ya going? We don't actually want to know, it is just a greeting we are used to saying!
So what would it look like to actually ask someone how they are, and then listen?
Not waiting for your turn to speak. Not half-listening while checking your phone. Actually listening.
We can be in constant contact with people and still feel completely unseen. We can have hundreds of people viewing our posts and still feel lonely. That's not a technology problem, that's a connection problem. And it's worth taking seriously.
Or another thing you could try, and this one gets people. Next time you're talking to someone you love, tell them. Just say it. The first few times there's an awkward pause. But people warm up to it fast.
Connection to nature
This is probably the biggest one that modern life has quietly stolen from us.
Think about a meal you've prepared. When was the last time you actually stopped and smelled what you were cooking? Thought about the fact that it came out of the ground, that it's going to nourish your body, that you're going to share it with people you care about?
That's not nothing. That's actually remarkable.
Or this: stand barefoot on grass, or soil, or sand — no phone, no photos, no capturing it for later, and just notice what it feels like. That's it. Just stand there.
I know it sounds small. But there's something about it.
My Connection Challenge for You
So this week, here is a PDF download called my Connection Fun List, try one thing from each of these three areas:
Connect to Yourself
Connect to Someone Else
Connect to Nature
Not a life overhaul. Not a programme. Three small acts.
We've been through enormous change before — world wars, industrial revolutions, technological upheavals — and something in us has held. I've seen a lot of beauty and love in this crazy world, and most of it didn't come from a screen.
Whatever happens next with AI and automation and all the rest of it, I think the way through is the same it's always been. Come back to yourself. Come back to each other. Come back to what's real.
That's how we stay human.