This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Matt Lowrie, 55, who lives in Colorado and used to work at Google. The following has been edited for length and clarity. I joined Google as a test engineer in 2006. It was a very exciting time. The company gave us the freedom to try things, and it felt like anything was possible in engineering. I spent nearly 19 years there, but I quit after saving enough to retire early and because I felt the company was pressuring me to adopt AI too