01 Apr Jevons’ Paradox: From Fear to Fortune in the Age of AI

by Kalika Yap

I just listened to a conversation that stopped me in my tracks. On the latest episode of The Diary of a CEO, Steven Bartlett sat down with serial entrepreneur Daniel Priestley to talk about AI, the future of work, and what it all means for people like us. If you haven’t listened yet, I highly recommend it.

Here’s what caught my attention: Priestley brought up a 160-year-old economic concept called Jevons’ Paradox, and it completely reframes how we should be thinking about AI as entrepreneurs.

I know there’s so much fear right now. I feel it, too. But after sitting with this idea, I want to share it with you because it changed my perspective. And I think it might change yours.

So, What Is Jevons’ Paradox?

In 1865, an English economist named William Stanley Jevons noticed something surprising. When steam engines became more efficient and used less coal, people expected coal consumption to drop. Instead, it skyrocketed. Why? Because the cost of using coal went down, which made it accessible to more industries, which created entirely new applications nobody had imagined.

More efficiency didn’t mean less demand. It meant more.

Priestley applies this same idea to AI. His argument? Yes, AI is going to automate a lot of repetitive, low-level tasks. But that won’t shrink the economy or eliminate opportunity. It will expand it in directions we can’t fully predict yet.

What Daniel Priestley Shared on the Podcast

Here are some of the key ideas from the conversation that really stood out to me:

1. Disruption Creates More, Not Less

Priestley used a powerful example. His mum worked in newspapers. Over the past 25 years, about 80% of traditional newspaper jobs have disappeared. But in the same period, the number of bloggers, Substack writers, content creators, and independent media voices making a living from their work has grown by 100x. The same thing happened with YouTube. Hollywood lost tens of thousands of jobs, but YouTube created 500,000 to 600,000 new ones. It used to take 150 people to produce a TV show. Now a small team of 5 to 10 people can run a wildly successful YouTube channel.

2. VIP Human Experiences Will Be in Higher Demand

This is the part that really excited me. Priestley explained that when AI handles the repetitive tasks (scheduling, appointment setting, basic customer service), the demand for high-touch, premium, human-to-human experiences will grow. Companies have always wanted to offer more personal, VIP-level service. They just couldn’t afford the infrastructure. When AI takes care of the administrative layers, human connection becomes both more affordable to deliver and more valued by customers.

3. Blue-Collar and Hands-On Work May Out-Earn White-Collar Work

Priestley made a bold prediction: in the years ahead, skilled trades like plumbing, electrical work, and construction may out-earn many traditional white-collar professions. AI can learn to be a lawyer or an accountant. It can’t show up to your house and fix a broken pipe. The work that requires a physical human presence becomes more valuable, not less.

4. Personal Brand Becomes Your Greatest Asset

Throughout the conversation, Priestley kept returning to one theme: in a world flooded with AI-generated content, the entrepreneurs who will thrive are the ones with a strong, authentic personal brand. Your story. Your experience. Your voice. Those things can’t be replicated by a machine. As Priestley put it, every person has something that is uniquely human that only they can share.

5. Think Like a Builder, Not a Bystander

Priestley encouraged everyone to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset. That doesn’t mean you have to start a company tomorrow. It means learning to prototype quickly, experiment with AI tools, and stay curious about where new opportunities are appearing. The people who will do well in this next chapter are the ones who stay in motion and keep building.

Your 7-Step Guide: How to Use Jevons’ Paradox in Your Business

I’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you apply these ideas right now. Think of this as your action plan for the next 30 days.

Step 1: Identify Your Repetitive Tasks

Make a list of every task in your business that is repetitive, time-consuming, and doesn’t require your unique expertise. Customer email responses, scheduling, data entry, basic social media, bookkeeping. Be honest about how much of your day is spent on these.

Step 2: Test AI Tools for Those Tasks

Pick two or three tasks from your list and explore AI tools that could handle them. Start small. Try an AI scheduling assistant, a content drafting tool, or an automated customer intake system. You don’t need to overhaul everything at once.

Step 3: Calculate the Time You’ll Get Back

Once you see how much time AI saves you, write it down. How many hours per week? Per month? This is your “Jevons’ Paradox dividend.” That reclaimed time is where the real growth happens.

Step 4: Reinvest That Time Into High-Value Activities

Use your reclaimed hours for the things only you can do: building relationships, creating VIP client experiences, developing new offerings, and strengthening your personal brand. These are the activities that grow your revenue and deepen loyalty.

Step 5: Double Down on Your Personal Brand

Share your story. Record a video. Write a post about what you’ve learned in your years of building your business. In a world full of AI-generated sameness, your authentic voice and real experience become your competitive edge.

Step 6: Look for the “New Newspaper” in Your Industry

Ask yourself: what is the equivalent of blogging and Substack in my field? Where is the old model shrinking and the new model expanding? That’s where you want to position yourself. Talk to peers, read industry news, and pay attention to what your customers are asking for that didn’t exist two years ago.

Step 7: Build Your Community

The entrepreneurs who thrive in times of change are the ones who stay connected. Join a peer group, attend live events, or start your own small gathering of fellow business owners. Priestley emphasized that human relationships and community are the most valuable assets in an increasingly automated world. I couldn’t agree more.

Ready to Put This Into Action?

If this really landed for you, and you want help figuring out how to apply these ideas to your specific business, I’d love to connect.

I offer complimentary discovery calls for entrepreneurs who are ready to grow with intention and clarity. Book your discovery call here:
calendly.com/Kalika

Whether you’re scaling, pivoting, or starting fresh, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Let’s talk about where you are and where you want to go.