"… nothing that is worth knowing can be taught" - Oscar Wilde
This provocative quote from Oscar Wilde has never been more relevant than it is today. With the meteoric rise of Large Language Models (LLMs), we're living through a paradigm shift. The very definition of a "valuable skill" is being rewritten in real-time.
The Great Automation of Words
For decades, automation has been associated with assembly lines and manual labor. Now, it has come for the knowledge worker. LLMs bring large-scale automation to any field dominated by words and language. Drafting emails, writing reports, generating code, summarizing complex documents, and even creating marketing copy—these tasks are now achievable in seconds with a simple prompt.
The skills that once formed the bedrock of many professions—technical writing, legal drafting, basic programming—are being commoditized. The barrier to producing clean, coherent text or functional code is rapidly dissolving. This can feel unsettling, but it also presents an incredible opportunity.
Your Ideas Are Your New Superpower
When the expression of an idea becomes automated, the value shifts dramatically to the origin of the idea. The ability to generate a perfectly structured essay is less impressive when a machine can do it. What the machine can't do is replicate your unique perspective, your curiosity, or the novel connections you make between disparate concepts.
Ideas and critical thinking are more valuable than ever. An LLM can help you articulate a thought, clean up your reasoning, and present it eloquently. But it cannot create the initial spark. The originality of your idea and the special angle from which you view the world are now your most precious assets. The LLM is a powerful tool for expression, but you are the thinker, the strategist, and the visionary.
Stop Learning the 'What', Master the 'Why'
This brings us back to Wilde's quote. Learning skills like legal writing, technical communication, or coding without a deep-seated practice of critical thinking is of less value than ever before. Memorizing legal precedents is less important than understanding legal strategy. Knowing coding syntax is less critical than being able to architect a robust and creative software solution.
If your knowledge is a collection of facts that can be easily "taught" or, in this new context, easily retrieved by an AI, its value is fleeting. The future belongs to those who can ask the right questions, challenge assumptions, and synthesize information in new ways.
Pay less attention to what you can remember and more to how you think. Focus on developing your mental models, your problem-solving processes, and the unique way you view the world. This internal framework is what allows you to direct the powerful tools at your disposal toward truly innovative ends.
The age of LLMs isn't about replacing human intelligence but augmenting it. It's pushing us to move beyond the easily replicable and to cultivate the deeper, more creative aspects of our minds. The things that can't be taught—wisdom, insight, and genuine creativity—are no longer just worth knowing; they are essential for survival and success.