The new AI inflection point

Jesse Jackson, Wuthering Heights & curling (Issue #416)

The new AI inflection point

Jesse Jackson, Wuthering Heights & curling (Issue #416)

By The Medium Blog ∙ February 20, 2026 ∙ 4 min read ∙ View on MediumIt’s been 1,178 days since ChatGPT debuted to the public. Since then, we’ve been through several waves of hype cycle-followed-by-backlash, and new models and tools have slowly but surely worked their way from thrilling novelty into regular, mundane usage.Given enough time, every conversation I’m in now somehow finds its way to the topic of AI. Talking about your upcoming travel? AI played a role in planning it. New workout routine? AI helps you keep track of your gains.Over the last few weeks, though, there’s been a collective sense of turning a new corner in the world of software engineering using agentic tools, with writers across Medium sharing their experience. Frontend engineer Brittany Chiang wonders if her role is becoming more like a TSA agent, but looking for bugs instead of prohibited items. The pace of change has engineer Francisco Trindade asking whether companies will continue to review code in the future — when new tools make generating thousands of new lines of code trivial, the new bottleneck becomes review. And Medium iOS engineer Thomas Ricouard feels we’ve reached a new tipping point, “a sort of collective awakening” with the latest agents. “A year ago,” he writes, “if I told you that you’ll mostly only review code those days, and not write a single line yourself, you would have looked at me weirdly.”I’ve received (and sent!) the link to this massively viral X.com essay comparing the current moment in AI development to early February 2020, when the pandemic had already begun but most people weren’t yet aware of it — it argues we are on the precipice of massive change (and to be fair, the essay has plenty of critics). A key part of the essay, and the driving reason it’s been passed around so heavily, is its argument that what’s happening in the world of software engineering is soon likely to play out in most knowledge-based fields. The tipping point is coming for us all.So how can one get prepared? One place to start is with your own thinking. Writer Ryan Holiday recently shared his guidelines for being a better thinker in the age of AI, and they’ll help you no matter what field you’re in as you reckon with how AI will be changing your work. A few especially relevant ones:

• Go deep: Follow ideas all the way down, don’t stop until you’ve totally wrapped your mind around them.
• Embrace contradiction: F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
• Be flexible: Cultivate your capacity for change.
• Write to think right : Use writing as a tool to help you understand what you think.

— Scott Lamb

Other reads that caught our attention this week:

• In light of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson’s passing this past week, our community contributed many anecdotes and eulogies in his honor that are worthy to peruse. One example: Shantanique Johnson contributes a brief, yet powerful reflection of a meeting with Jackson and what it taught her about the dicotomy of visibility. “Being a Black woman working at a predominantly white institution can often feel like carrying the weight of your ancestors in every interaction ,” says Johnson, but her interaction with Jackson gave her a way to find empowerment in “claiming your roots.”
• Although the ICE occupation in Minnesota has shifted out of national headlines, the federal government is continuing its extensive and aggressive actions in the region. A lifelong Minnesotan updates us on what everyday life is like there now in this recent story that is both heavy, yet hopeful. In referencing the support network staying strong, Thadra Sheridan writes: “It is a glorious patchwork of communities with centuries of experience with being targeted by the government leading us all in a crash course on how to resist and survive.”
• Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the novel, or a fan of Emerald Fennell’s work, or both (or neither!) — this review of the latest film adaptation of Wuthering Heights is helpful in putting words to feelings many may be wrestling with after watching it. Cian McGrath gives you permission to enjoy the “candy-coloured, deeply expressionistic ” movie, while providing some crucial context on why creative choices were made.
• Fans of this newsletter may find this familiar: The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is back again with a banger. This time it’s about curling — yes, that perplexing winter sport that involves stones, brooms, and teamwork. The mysterious author of this municipal service provider Medium account sheds light on similarities between curling and stream restoration — an essential environmental practice that stabilizes riverbanks and prevents erosion so we can all enjoy many more Winter Olympics to come.

A quote with (counterintuitive?) writing wisdom:

“Replace writing for attention, traffic, shares, and moola with writing for one person. See how your motivation to show up to your practice changes. See how your enjoyment shifts. See how much more writing means to you.”— Emily Rudow, reflecting on what 10 years of blogging taught her.··· Deepen your understanding every Friday with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here .__Edited and produced by Scott Lamb _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and join a community that believes in human storytelling .

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