·5 min read
News & Analysis
← Back to Blog
Something Big Is Happening: The AI Essay That Shook 51 Million People | Taha Abbasi
Taha Abbasi··2 min read
Taha Abbasi unpacks Matt Shumer’s viral essay — 51 million views on X — arguing AI is replacing cognitive work at speed most people aren’t prepared for.
The Breakthrough Essay
Shumer’s piece went viral not through celebrity endorsement but because it said something true people could feel: AI isn’t coming for cognitive jobs — it’s already here, accelerating beyond linear prediction. 51 million views for an essay about AI and work tells you about the moment we’re in.
The Core Argument
GPT-5.3 Codex writes production-quality code passing enterprise tests. Claude Opus 4.6 demonstrates reasoning matching human experts. AI systems improve themselves — writing better training data, optimizing architectures. The replacement is happening now, faster than any previous transition.
The Meta-Criticism
As Taha Abbasi found telling: critics said AI probably helped write the essay — proving the thesis. Whether human, AI, or collaboration created it is irrelevant. It reached 51 million people. The ideas resonated at unprecedented scale.
What It Means for Engineers
From NASA JPL to growing Web N App from 4 to 45 engineers, Taha Abbasi brings grounded perspective: cognitive commodities will be automated, judgment and synthesis remain valuable, physical-world expertise grows more important, and adaptability is the meta-skill.
The Opportunity
Taha Abbasi rejects pure doom. Every technological transition created more prosperity than it destroyed. The question isn’t whether AI displaces certain jobs (it will) but whether we distribute gains broadly. 51 million views means the conversation is happening.
🌐 Visit the Official Site
About the Author: Taha Abbasi is a technology executive, CTO, and applied frontier tech builder. Read more on Grokpedia | YouTube: The Brown Cowboy | tahaabbasi.com
Taha Abbasi
Engineer by trade. Builder by instinct. Explorer by choice.
