Renting Your Life: The Subscription Trap in the Age of AI

09/09/2025 11 min Episodio 42
Renting Your Life: The Subscription Trap in the Age of AI

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Episode Synopsis

We used to own things. Now we rent them , and in some cases that includes our ability to think.

In this episode of Leading Change, I unpack the subscriptionification of everything, from Netflix and workout apps to enterprise software and your favorite AI tools. What started with a $9.99 music plan has turned into monthly fees for cognition.


⚠️ I hit my limit this week after running into paywall after paywall just trying to do research.
So we are talking about:

Why the rise of AI is accelerating subscription culture
How tools like ChatGPT and Claude are creating dependency 
The growing cost of access to knowledge and cognitive outsourcing
What we’re losing when we “rent” our workflows, our thoughts, and our time

And most importantly, I ask the question:


Are we okay with our brains being billed out monthly like software?

📌 Drop a comment —
How many active subscriptions do you have right now?
What’s one you can’t live without?
And what are you ready to cancel in the name of taking back some ownership?