What Do Rising Costs, AI Job Losses and War Have in Common?

Three Big Problems. One Human Response: Love Intelligence.

We are living through three powerful sources of anxiety:

Rising cost of living. In Singapore, consumer prices were 2.3% higher year-on-year in August 2026, with recent energy and transport-related increases adding pressure.

Fear of losing jobs to AI. The evidence is more nuanced than “AI is taking all our jobs”: the ILO says large-scale displacement remains limited so far, but AI is reshaping work and increasing the importance of higher-order cognitive, socio-emotional, adaptability and human-agency skills.

War and geopolitical uncertainty. The Iran conflict continues to affect energy, shipping and businesses globally, while diplomacy remains uncertain.

These look like three completely different problems.

But perhaps they share one question:

How should human beings respond when the world becomes more uncertain?

My answer is Love Intelligence: Care, Courage and Connection.

CARE when costs rise.
Don't simply complain about prices. Care enough about yourself, your family and your business to examine where money is going, eliminate waste, create greater value and help others who are struggling.

COURAGE when AI threatens your job.
Don't spend your life trying to beat AI at what AI does best. Have the courage to move towards what makes you more valuable as a human: judgment, creativity, trust, leadership and solving problems worth solving.

CONNECTION when the world chooses conflict.
War ultimately demonstrates what happens when differences become confrontation. At our own scale—in companies, families and communities—we can listen, understand interests, negotiate and seek outcomes where disagreement does not automatically become fighting.

That is also very close to Sun Tzu's highest strategic ideal: winning without unnecessary fighting.

Love Intelligence doesn't make inflation disappear.

It doesn't stop AI.

And one individual practising LQ cannot end a war.

It changes how we respond to all three.

And sometimes that is where change begins.

When the world becomes more artificial, uncertain and divided, perhaps we don't need less intelligence.

We need another kind of intelligence:

Care enough to see.
Courage enough to act.
Connection enough to bring people together.

That is Love Intelligence. More at https://asiatrainers.org/lqbook

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