The difference between what society values versus what you do.

I don’t think anyone goes into a music career thinking they will make millions and have an abundance of financial independence, but I never expected how little professional music actually makes. Given my socioeconomic background, it did not take me long to make the decision of pursuing technology and giving up a professional music career. There are only so many private lessons, side gigs, and wedding repeats of Canon in D a human can handle on top of orchestra practice and be okay with barely being able to make ends meet or being unable to support family and other medical expenses. At some point, I had to reconcile the thing that I really enjoyed with the reality of life and what society values and is willing to pay for. The irony is that this artistic expression and creativity is actually one of the hardest things to replicate for AI and other technologies, whereas engineering and other tasks we pay more for today are often better suited for automation.

Michell Yi

https://www.michelleyi.ai/my-story/5-life-lessons-from-playing-the-violin