A Portentous Reunion
The author's thirtieth college reunion revealed a shared anxiety among peers regarding the impact of AI on the future. Conversations frequently returned to the effects of large language models on knowledge work and concerns for the younger generation. Nostalgia for the past also emerged, particularly surrounding the author's creation of a competitive Tetris game during college.
- ▪Attendees expressed grave concern about the implications of AI for future generations.
- ▪The author reminisced about creating a competitive Tetris game called BattleTris during college.
- ▪Conversations at the reunion often circled back to the effects of large language models on knowledge work.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
A portentous reunion May 25, 2026 I just attended my thirtieth college reunion, and there were some clear trends among my mid-life peers. First among them: grave concern for what AI means for our future and for the future of our (broadly young adult) kids. Now, surely many generations have looked back at the three decades since their undergraduate years with a mix of nostalgia for the past and apprehension for the future, so it’s hard to know if 2026 is truly exceptional in this regard. And certainly, you can’t argue that today’s anxiety for the future is unrivaled: my mother graduated in 1968, and is quick to remind that many of her classmates faced a loss of their college deferments and (depending on their lottery number) being drafted to fight in an unpopular war.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Observation Deck.
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