Can I offer a thought: Most humans who've ever lived have only
ever been trapped in a "rat race to death", and yet they find reasons to live. Whether you're a peasant in North Korea, a factory worker in China, a salaryman in Japan, a teacher in rural America, a conscripted soldier, a slave, a prisoner, a sex trafficking victim, etc... shitty existences are as old as our species. Many people today will work much, much harder than we techies ever have, and will for much longer, and then they'll unceremoniously die. Entire family lines are born into and remain trapped in cyclical poverty for generations, with no way out of harsh, menial subsistences. But still, people find the will to live, and experience moments here and there that hopefully make it worthwhile.
How do they do that?
I know it sucks to struggle with a lack of meaning, fulfillment, and agency. Many of us feel degrees of that too, with AI on the horizon and our careers (if not societies) possibly ending. As a two-time suicide survivor myself, I also totally understand the feeling of "I don't get the point of existing anymore", a mixture of hopelessness for the future, persistent dysthymia, and moments of intense pain/suffering. It's no fun... at all. I don't know your situation, but I'm sorry you have to deal with that :(
But before you jump to any conclusions (no pun intended), I would like to ask if you could please just consider how people find the will to go on despite recurring hardships and failures and an overall lack of purpose & fulfillment in their lives.
Is your career the only source of meaning in your life? Even if you are reduced to a mere commodity... well, so what? Billions of people are just commoditized pawns in the schemes of the rich & powerful, working 9-5s or worse to make someone else rich. That's the default state of human existence in our industrialized, capitalist world. Even before AI, most of us were still just pawns for the Bezos and Musks of the world, living slightly more comfortably, maybe, but ultimately doing forgettable work that will likely be unused and forgotten after a few years anyway.
But so what? Despite these existences, folks still have friends, hobbies, a love of poetry/nature/fishing/hunting/sports/games/whatever it is that they look forward to every week. They have struggles that they go through and feel satisfaction after resolving. They enjoy the simple pleasures of good meal, a hot bath or hot sex, a sunny walk, whatever.
On the other hand, our most famous movie and music stars overdose and die young, politicians live under constant hatred from millions, the rich live lonely, solitary existences not knowing who to trust... even if you "made it", or are on top of the AI revolution, that's no guarantee of happiness either.
All that is to say that in our lives, we're given no inherent right to happiness, only the chance to pursue it. And even when you find it, it's usually fleeting, with no guarantee it'll last the year, much less the rest of your life.
But you at least have that chance. I can't promise you will find career fulfillment, much less happiness, after AI. Many of us will probably lose our paths and have to start over from scratch, competing with hordes of others. But guess what? That just makes us like the other 99% of people... the kid born into poverty, the Uber immigrant driver with no education, the person scammed out of their life savings, the mom who lost her whole family in a car crash. Everyone's struggling, and compared to most, we're still better off, with more resources, professional experience, connections, education, whatever. All you have is a chance, and it's up to you to drive the rest of your life the way you want it to go, with or without a tech career.
Maybe you'll find another fulfilling tech job, or maybe work in another field altogether, or maybe have to be unemployed for a long time and go back to school or just work dead-end gigs for the rest of your life. OK, fine, but those are possibilities for any of us, whether you're a tech worker or a factory worker or a coal miner. Employment is never guaranteed, especially in a fast-changing world. But so what? That's just life, and you find or make other paths to happiness, one day at a time. That's all anyone can do.
AI or not, you'll be dead by the turn of the century anyhow. What's the rush? You can only play the cards you're dealt, as you're dealt them, and the only variable is what you do in response. I believe the struggles we go through ultimately make us stronger, kinder, and I would argue, happier in the end.
Ultimately I'm not going to tell you not to do it if that's really what you want. I think everyone deserves the right to make that decision for themselves. But if you're not yet sure, well, just consider what truly makes someone's life fulfilling, and whether a career is the only thing worth living for. Maybe it's worth giving other small things a chance.
FWIW, some of the happiest people I know are musicians, farmers, carpenters, people who work with animals, or their hands, or their communities. Their jobs aren't glamorous, but their lives are overflowing with meaning and love, and community closeness, in ways that tech almost never offers. Maybe it's a good time to try something different? Just a thought.