I'm writing to think, learn, and remember in public. I'll be here everyday.
Natural selection is about adaptation. The species that survive are the ones that adapt.
People didn’t or don’t lose jobs to computers. They lose jobs by failing to adapt to a world that requires computer skills.
People won’t lose jobs to AI. They’ll lose jobs by failing to adapt to a world that requires working with AI.
The good news about AI is that of all the paradigm-shifting technologies, it’s probably the best at helping us adapt to it.
Hmmm…
On the one hand, there might be good reasons to keep doing it. Lessons learned through experience can help you. No need to waste brain cycles.
Safety resides inside the way we’ve always done it. Tried and true. No risk. Start in the mail room.
But safety and stagnation often look the same. The world moves forward, with or without you. New people. New technologies. New data. New methods. New culture.
We cling to past lessons and successes like a life raft, but sometimes, the raft is what’s keeping us from swimming. We might need to swim some more.
Occasionally, probably not every day, just ask yourself:
• Is this still the best way?
• What are we afraid of losing?
• What happens if we keep doing it this way?
Because the most dangerous thing isn’t change.
It’s refusing to.
You know what comes next.
Body language, tone, and inflection all shape the message. Deliberate or not.
But it also IS what you say.
You’ll be remembered for using the wrong word. You’ll be forgotten if you don’t choose the right word.
In engineering, the specificity of words is very important. Requirements and design specs, programming languages, and collaboration all require specific words. The words themselves matter.
I’ve spent the last several weeks working on messaging for 4TLAS. It’s hard to find the right words. Even when you’re being intentional and have all the time to do it.
Which makes me realize how important it is to give grace to those who don’t get it right in the heat of the moment.
We expect others to say exactly what they mean, yet we struggle to do it ourselves. We judge quickly, but words are tricky. Because words matter. And so does how we respond to them.
Your message is important, even if you’re just the messenger.
We can’t fly. Not like a bird. We ride.
AI can’t think (at this time). Not like us. It just does what we incentivize it to do.
Let’s worry less about capabilities and more about incentives.
When it’s not going right or actually goes bad, you have two options:
Receding might be the right approach.
Getting harder to kill is always the right approach.
[100% ChatGPT-created article below]
—
AI is everywhere. It’s automating tasks, generating content, and changing industries. It’s easy to feel like if you’re not using it, you’re falling behind.
But let’s zoom out.
AI won’t change what it means to be human. It won’t replace the feeling of a deep conversation, the warmth of a hug, or the trust built over years. It won’t make your morning coffee taste better, or turn a walk in the woods into something more profound. AI can write a love letter, but it won’t feel love. It can compose music, but it won’t dance to it.
The things that truly define life—joy, struggle, curiosity, relationships—aren’t about efficiency. They’re about presence. AI can optimize your schedule, but it won’t sit with your friend through a hard time. It can analyze data, but it won’t take a leap of faith.
Yes, AI is a tool, and a powerful one. But it’s not the thing. What matters most—kindness, courage, creativity, connection—is still up to us.
Maybe AI isn’t that important after all.
What will you do today that only a human can do?
—
[Me again]
I’ll just leave that there. What do you think? How important is it?
I’ve been on LinkedIn quite a bit over the last several months.
One thing that has struck me is the sheer volume of “obviously AI-generated” content. That goes for posts, articles, and direct messages. I assume it’s also happening with the job application and resume-tailoring tools.
I use AI to do those things as well, as I’ve discussed here often. It’s a paradigm-altering tool as an idea generator, editor, and research assistant.
But, the copy/paste approach has created a sameness on the platform. A ubiquitous vanilla foreground. Post content and structure. Article content and structure. The direct messages I receive all look and sound the same.
AI is a powerful tool, but it’s not a replacement for you.
Your personality. Your weirdness. Your voice. Your perspective.
If everybody’s doing it, does that mean you should be?
It’s easy to anthropomorphize AI. It really seems like a person on the other end of that channel.
Lots of people writing about AI talk about what it thinks and what it wants. Depending on how you define thinking, you can argue it thinks.
But for sure it doesn’t want.
It’s incentivized. It works towards those incentives based on the parameters and data it’s been given. But it doesn’t want anything. To want means to have desires, goals, or a will. AI doesn’t wake up and decide that it doesn’t want to work towards its incentives. It doesn’t wonder. It doesn’t think about its purpose. It doesn’t feel meaning.
AI isn’t plotting to take over the world, nor is it striving to be your best friend. AI might, however, be mis-incentivized. And if that happens, then, yes, we may have some problems.
Instead of asking or even thinking about what AI wants, the real question is: What do we want?
It’s up to us to figure that out.
Machines and AI are built for algorithms. They calculate faster, analyze better, and don’t get tired.
Algorithms follow rules. Actually, algorithms are rules.
Humans are built to break the rules.
The machine finds the most efficient path. Humans explore. The machine forges ahead relentlessly. Humans take a break and contemplate. The machine does what its been programmed to do. The human does what it wants to do.
Let the machines do what they do best.
Let the humans be more human.
Each of us has levers. Maybe you call yours buttons. Or checkboxes.
When you’re looking to make a purchase, hire a service, or bring on a new team member, you’re hoping it, or they pull the right levers.
Will this pull the right levers?
If you’re building a product, developing a service, or interviewing for jobs, all you have to do is pull the right levers.
But first, you have to uncover them.
