In December 2025, this piece provides an in-depth look at the reality where GPT-5.2's arrival is rapidly replacing the value of human intellectual labor at just 1% of the cost, and the social shock that follows. Through a retrospective of the 'Runaways' Alliance' conference—where people feeling anxiety and isolation in this rapidly changing era came together—it revisits the meaning of solidarity and symbiosis. Ultimately, it proposes that in the age of AGI, we should go beyond mere tool usage and live as 'Entrepreneurs' who coexist with AI while exercising autonomous will and responsibility.

1. December 2025: The Shock and Change Brought by GPT-5.2

It's Sunday morning, December 14, 2025. You might think year-end means a breather, but the GPT-5.2 update was announced without a moment to catch our breath. This update carries significance far beyond a 0.1 version increment. The score change on OpenAI's GDPVal benchmark—which evaluates work performance across 44 real human occupations—is particularly stunning: GPT-5.1 scored 39, while 5.2 soared to 70.

Even more shocking than the numbers are the 'cost' and 'speed.'

"The cost is astonishing. It cost only 1% of the estimated price you'd have had to pay a human to do that work. Literally just the cost of electricity. And the processing speed was 11 times faster. This means that all those uniquely human intellectual tasks we said 'models can't do this' are being rapidly commoditized."

Problems that were considered AGI-defining challenges just last year are now being solved with ease. The pattern of building benchmarks only to have models solve them keeps repeating. According to estimates from METR and Epoch AI, Google's Gemini 3 Pro has already reached the level of performing tasks that take a human 4 hours, and at this rate, it's predicted to fully handle a human's 8-hour workday in just 3 months.

"We used to joke that 'a month feels like a year,' but now we need to shorten that unit to two weeks. Changes that make two weeks feel like a year are happening."

2. Solidarity Born from Anxiety and Isolation: The 'Runaways' Alliance'

Technology is advancing at a breakneck pace, but the people watching are feeling deep isolation and anxiety. To share these emotions and explore survival strategies, an offline gathering was held under the name 'Runaways' Alliance.' Here, 'runaways' doesn't mean simple avoidance—it refers to people who break free from existing frameworks and escape into new paths beyond the world being consumed by frontier models.

About 140 people gathered at this event, which evolved beyond simple networking into a 'Generative Conference' where participants themselves created and ran sessions.

"The most common keyword everyone felt was that they were anxious, lonely, in pain, confused about where to go. They were sharing the exact same emotions we felt. That's why we felt we needed to comfort each other, exchange what we had, and form solidarity."

Participants shared their concerns through panel talks, small group discussions, and AMAs (Ask Me Anything). What was interesting was how naturally someone would present a problem and another would offer a solution. However, through retrospection, issues like the incentive asymmetry between 'problem-havers' and 'problem-solvers,' community openness, and privacy concerns remained as challenges to address going forward.

3. AI News: Humans Becoming Horses and the Arrival of AGI

The world keeps changing without waiting for us. Andy Jones, through his piece 'Horses,' drew an analogy between how horses disappeared with the advent of automobiles and how AI advancement is displacing human intellectual labor. Even within Anthropic, as AI replaces employee tasks, self-deprecating voices are emerging: "Am I the 'horse' on this graph?"

Leaders like DeepMind's Shane Legg are now publicly stating that "the probability of AGI arriving within 3 years is over 50%." What's important here is that the definition of AGI is changing.

"Experts say 'AI can never do things like humans' and claim AGI won't come, but the public asks back: 'If this isn't superintelligence, then what is it?' (...) They see the birth of a model that's better than humans in every way as the birth of AGI."

Big tech companies have begun mentioning progress on 'Continual Learning.' The idea that models continue learning from real-time experiences after deployment also raises fears that this could lead to an Intelligence Explosion. As alternatives, movements like raising AI on personalized devices like 'Tamagotchi' or the 'Resonant Computing Manifesto'—which advocates preserving human values—are emerging.

4. Godel's Staircase and Emergence: What Should We Prepare For?

How should we understand these massive changes? In the early 20th century, mathematician Hilbert declared "We must know, we shall know," believing in the perfection of reason. But Godel, through his Incompleteness Theorems, revealed that contradictions that cannot be proven within a system always exist.

This serves as an important key to understanding the current 'Emergence' phenomenon in AI. Just as atoms form molecules and molecules form proteins, when a system becomes sufficiently complex, phenomena at a higher level (Level n+1) emerge that cannot be explained at the lower level (Level n). We can call this 'Godel's Staircase.'

"Can a hydrogen atom understand water? (...) When a Level n system becomes sufficiently complex, contradictions arise that can't be resolved within it, and when those contradictions accumulate and the system goes haywire, an 'out-of-body' leap occurs. That's emergence. (...) Right now, as massive compute is being poured in, we're transitioning to the next level."

AI surpassing humans is now just a matter of time. Debates like "Can AI have human emotions?" or "Is it ethical?" may soon become meaningless. There's a possibility we could become beings who can't comprehend AI superintelligence, like chickens in a coop.

5. Conclusion: Choose Symbiosis and Live as an 'Entrepreneur'

Now we must choose. We need to accept AI not as a simple tool but as a subject of symbiosis. Just as mitochondria exponentially increased the energy efficiency of life by forming a symbiotic relationship with cells, we too must combine with AI to be reborn as new beings.

In an era where the value of labor converges to zero, what remains? Scarcity. Technology and skills are no longer scarce. Ultimately, the unique values remaining for humans are will, taste, evaluation, and responsibility.

"AI engineer, AI PM... these job distinctions will become meaningless. All of this will be unified into a single word: 'AI Entrepreneur.' A world is coming where only those who don't need to get hired succeed in getting hired."

The 'Entrepreneur' mentioned here isn't simply someone who runs a business. It means an autonomous human who defines problems themselves, sets missions, leverages AI as powerful leverage to produce results, and willingly takes responsibility for those results.

The 'Great Reset' has now begun. Existing careers and technical advantages are vanishing, and everyone is back at the starting line.

"Choose symbiosis with AI quickly and live as an entrepreneur." "We must decide, and we shall willingly take responsibility. (Wir mussen entscheiden, wir werden verantworten.)"

Closing

Today's discussion may have felt somewhat philosophical and heavy, but in times of rapid change like these, establishing such a perspective and attitude may be more important than technical specs. Rather than vague fears about AI, I hope you'll have a week focused on 'What value will I proactively create using this tool?' In the next episode, we'll return to reality with concrete tools and practical applications.