The flight attendant, dressed in a mock military uniform, made me uncomfortable. He reminded me of an old article about how Korean airlines were unusually accident prone. The theory goes that the culture’s rigid hierarchy made it difficult for superiors to accept information surfaced by their juniors - even when it made the difference between life and death as was the case with KAL801. Since then, they’ve addressed the issue by introducing a new “cockpit culture” that fosters more effective upward communication.

After sitting down next to an older Korean couple, I looked on curiously as they both took off their shoes and carefully wrapped them in the plastic bag that previously held their blankets. The 16 hour flight from NY to Seoul was spent coding up some features for Uniswap’s new auction system. Using the term “coding” feels generous - It was more directing an AI code editor to write the code for me. The AI gave me superpowers. I was pumping out code on a new project in Rust, a programming language I had never used before. My mind could focus on large, abstract concepts, while the AI did all the heavy lifting. At least, that’s how I saw it. AI could also quickly atrophy my skills and become a crutch over time. As a software engineer, I’ve always had to stay on my toes, learning new frameworks, technologies and languages but discovering how to incorporate AI into my work has been the biggest leap thus far.

As I watched my code editor churn out new test cases, I wondered what the optimal societal structure for integrating AI would look like. It’s clear that the societies that harness AI to their advantage early will fare best, but most cultures aren’t ready yet. Existing hierarchies based on age, gender or caste would likely be challenged or rendered obsolete due to their inflexibility. AI-driven meritocracies could emerge, rewarding skills, adaptability, and innovation over traditional social constructs. This could disrupt long-standing inequities, but it also risks creating new social divides—between those who can effectively utilize AI and those who get left behind.

Fifteen minutes before landing, we were directed through a series of seated stretching exercises. The hands of everyone in the cabin reached up in unison. The landing was punctuated by a cacophony of Kakao chirps as everyone took their phones off airplane mode. As I walked through the streets of Seoul, I saw ancient wooden temples coexisting with modern skyscrapers. I realized that even if societies were slow to adapt, there would be some pain, but they would eventually reach a new harmony while preserving some of their cultural identity.