My work has completely changed in 2026.

If you're a software developer like me, or you work for a software company, you're probably experiencing this too. For everyone else with jobs that can be done working from home, I suspect the change is not far away.

It feels almost as significant as when I started working from home 20 years ago.

Somehow I've avoided writing about it in this newsletter up to now. Partly because it's been exhausting keeping up with what everyone else has to say about it.

Yes, this is about AI.

It's now clear to me that LLMs and agents are amplifying the downsides of working from home.

I'm having fewer conversations with humans because AI agents answer most of my questions faster. They're doing much of the coding work I used to do manually, so I don't get to experience as much of the the flow state that made working from home wonderful.

The agents are often more demanding of my attention than the people I work with.

Worse still, I don't have as easy access to some of the isolation-busting solutions I had 20 years ago.

It can take me an hour to get into central Brighton to work from a coworking space. Social media doesn't provide me with the sense of community I used to get from it. Travelling into town for a meetup at 6:30 and back at 9pm means I miss an opportunity to sit down for an evening meal with a fellow human.

So I'm doing a bunch of things to add more humans back into my daily, weekly and monthly loops.

First up is the new meetup I'm organising on Monday evening.

It's much easier to justify a trip into town when it has a specific purpose. In this case, it's meeting people who, like me, have found that their income is dependent on one huge business.

Conversations are so much richer in the real world. In my experience, social media gets much better once you've actually met the people behind the avatars.

Dinner is provided, and it's hosted in a comfortable, quiet environment where we'll be able to hear each other speak.

It would be wonderful to see you at the Stripe Brighton meetup on the evening of Monday 1st June. We start at 6:30pm at The Skiff.

Please register here so I know how much food and drink to get, and what your preferences are:

​https://luma.com/0zakatid​

Everyone who signs up is also welcome to spend the whole day at The Skiff on Monday for a free coworking trial. Just arrive after 10am so I or another member can let you in and show you around.

Over the next few weeks I'll share more of the things I'm doing to get humans back in my loops.

Hope to see you on Monday!
​
Jon
​
PS This Friday, 29th May, is our monthly Skiff Drinks gathering from 5pm at The Skiff. It's a great opportunity to meet other members, including this awesome bunch. They welcomed hundreds of people to our space over the last four weekends by transforming The Skiff into their Artist Open House.

If you liked this you might also like to:

• ​Try working from The Skiff - meet the coworkers you always wanted (Free Tour & Trial).
• ​Join us at Brighton Farm - meet freelancers at the pub on Wednesday evening.
• ​Attend a Silicon Brighton event - 39 meetup groups to inspire you, teach you new stuff and introduce interesting people.
• ​Explore Sussex Digital - 35 communities, 126 events and 44 coworking spaces.

The Skiff, 30 Cheapside, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 4GD
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