“What are our kids going to do?”

As both the parent of newly graduated elementary and middle school students, and as a VC who invests in the technologies that could take away future jobs from our kids, I get this question a lot.

Sometimes I say that AI will free our kids to find vocations as opposed to paychecks. Recently, amidst the criticism of the semiconductor deals, I’d sometimes argue for the merits of these on-shored jobs. Being part of building a next-gen semiconductor fab is nothing to be ashamed of.

Having immigrated from Taiwan, I have had the luxury of being an American passport holder for almost 40 years. I work with American colleagues, invest in American companies, and am raising American kids. So when I say we, as Americans, seem to want our cake and to eat it too, it is without judgment.

The fears we have over our children’s prospects are a problem of our own creation. We don’t want inflation, but we want access to inexpensive goods. Some of us don’t want these inexpensive goods to come from overseas markets like China, but neither do we want Chinese and Taiwanese factories built inside the U.S., as these won’t create “American jobs.”........

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