The Speed Economy: How AI is Reshaping Work and Value 

As I’ve started exploring local AI models alongside their cloud-based counterparts, a pattern has become clear: speed is becoming the new currency.

Even with a $5,000 workstation, ample memory, and a powerful GPU, local AI struggles to match the rapid output of large, cloud-based models. In a world where efficiency increasingly dictates value, this gap is more than just a technical limitation. It is a structural force shaping the future of work.

Speed as a Measure of Value

In the emerging AI-driven economy, the players with the fastest setups and the deepest pockets to support them will naturally dominate. Faster output means greater visibility, quicker iteration, and the ability to generate more work in less time.

In a competitive landscape, speed itself becomes a measure of value. Those who cannot match it risk being sidelined, not because their work lacks insight or quality, but simply because it moves slower.

The Consequences of Acceleration

This dynamic has consequences.

It rewards raw throughput over thoughtful craft, reinforcing a cycle where recognition, promotions, and opportunities gravitate toward those who can operate at maximum velocity. It also deepens the divide between those who can afford high-end infrastructure and those who cannot.

In essence, money and access amplify the advantages of speed, creating an uneven playing field.

The Limits of Hybrid and Slower Approaches

There are still spaces for hybrid or slower approaches, niches where depth, creativity, and deliberate thought hold more weight than sheer output. Research, consulting, creative industries, and internal business processes often value insight over pace.

But these pockets remain exceptions.

The dominant market, the one driving the broader direction of AI adoption and industry standards, will be dictated by speed. High-output models will set expectations, shape norms, and ultimately define what success looks like.

A Crossroads for the Future of Work

This reality is both exciting and cautionary.

AI opens possibilities for unprecedented productivity and innovation, yet it also risks creating an environment where human value is measured in units per minute rather than insight per hour. The challenge ahead is finding balance: leveraging speed where it matters, while preserving spaces for reflection, creativity, and thoughtful decision-making.

We are at a crossroads. The question is not just who can run the fastest AI, but how we, as a society, choose to define progress, success, and the kind of world we want technology to shape.

Author’s Note

This article was written by Douglas E. Fessler. The ideas and reflections are my own, drawing on decades of experience in IT, environmental monitoring, STEM education, and community initiatives. AI-assisted tools were used to structure and clarify complex concepts — a reflection, in itself, of the subject explored.