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AI Manifesto
An author's stake in the ground about the biggest thing to barrel toward humanity since...well, ever. Written with a serious interest in helping knowledge workers build autonomy, take risks, and prioritize their big dreams.
Why I'm so interested
I am endlessly interested in creating lives we actually like, and what we sometimes settle for instead. Also, I've spent the last nearly four years living lots of the uncertainty we're all facing with AI developments.
I love life, and not because it has been comfortable, or devoid of disappointment. Fear and failures I know very well. Big dreams, curiosity, and a "Well, what's the worst that can happen?" attitude have helped me leave perceived safety multiple time to explore and bet on myself.
Even as I've left careers to create things of my own, I've remained fascinated by human potential and corporate dynamics. My interest has tripled with the arrival of AI to what was already a party.
And even before writing my books, I could see that knowledge workers were not doing okay. It's become all too easy to trade risk-taking and autonomy for employer-provided "safety" and a materially comfortable life.
The exchange hasn't been great for us.
Surveys and statistics show it. I lived it. I've seen others live it too.
And now, just when too many are dependent on jobs for purpose and provision, we have headlines of AI-driven mass layoffs and forecasts of major disruption to white-collar work.
The golden handcuffs are coming off and many are terrified about making it without them. We've forgotten that purpose has always been an inside job, that uncertainty is a key part of the adventure of life, and we've individually always been in charge of our own provision.
From years spent inside and outside various corporate trenches, I've learned a few things about navigating uncertainty and creating purpose.
You could say I'm on a mission to help others rediscover this, and navigate our AI times with more hope, resilience, and a focus on big dreams.
I love life, and not because it has been comfortable, or devoid of disappointment. Fear and failures I know very well. Big dreams, curiosity, and a "Well, what's the worst that can happen?" attitude have helped me leave perceived safety multiple time to explore and bet on myself.
Even as I've left careers to create things of my own, I've remained fascinated by human potential and corporate dynamics. My interest has tripled with the arrival of AI to what was already a party.
And even before writing my books, I could see that knowledge workers were not doing okay. It's become all too easy to trade risk-taking and autonomy for employer-provided "safety" and a materially comfortable life.
The exchange hasn't been great for us.
Surveys and statistics show it. I lived it. I've seen others live it too.
And now, just when too many are dependent on jobs for purpose and provision, we have headlines of AI-driven mass layoffs and forecasts of major disruption to white-collar work.
The golden handcuffs are coming off and many are terrified about making it without them. We've forgotten that purpose has always been an inside job, that uncertainty is a key part of the adventure of life, and we've individually always been in charge of our own provision.
From years spent inside and outside various corporate trenches, I've learned a few things about navigating uncertainty and creating purpose.
You could say I'm on a mission to help others rediscover this, and navigate our AI times with more hope, resilience, and a focus on big dreams.
My thinking
AI is going to disrupt nearly every part of life, and fast. Some of this will be exciting and good, much will not.
It's better to be aware than ignorant.
Especially now, banking on a job (any job) for long-term purpose and security is unwise.
We're not going to need very many humans to "manage" AI. Learning AI as the way to stay safely employed is overhyped.
It's never mattered more to live wide-awake. Consume information intentionally, and don't be a pawn in the hands of tech companies.
Those who have the best chance of thriving in the future are those pursue human things and are committed to staying in the adventure of life.
Our big dreams have never mattered more than they do right now. Dreams matched with action help us face the future with hope.
Pursuing creativity and what lights you up in the face of uncertainty might be the most "responsible" thing you can do.
Financial organization and preparation has always mattered, and especially now. Organize your money and make a plan for it.
That said, remember that it is literally impossible to anticipate and insure against every risk. We can't control all outcomes; just focus on what you can.
Hiding in a bunker has never been the answer to challenging circumstances. Don't make decisions out of fear.
Many even leaders and experts will need to discover who they are without stable salaries, traditional benefits, or fancy titles.
No one has the answers to what we're navigating. Experts who've never been without a job may have much less experience navigating uncertainty than we regular people.
We humans are a resilient bunch.
This disruption will provide an opportunity for everyone to discover a sense of worth and purpose that has nothing to do with externalities.
Our material comforts are not as necessary to our happiness as we think they are. Enjoy them, yes, but hold them loosely.
Life and living remain incredibly worthwhile—no matter what comes.
It's better to be aware than ignorant.
Especially now, banking on a job (any job) for long-term purpose and security is unwise.
We're not going to need very many humans to "manage" AI. Learning AI as the way to stay safely employed is overhyped.
It's never mattered more to live wide-awake. Consume information intentionally, and don't be a pawn in the hands of tech companies.
Those who have the best chance of thriving in the future are those pursue human things and are committed to staying in the adventure of life.
Our big dreams have never mattered more than they do right now. Dreams matched with action help us face the future with hope.
Pursuing creativity and what lights you up in the face of uncertainty might be the most "responsible" thing you can do.
Financial organization and preparation has always mattered, and especially now. Organize your money and make a plan for it.
That said, remember that it is literally impossible to anticipate and insure against every risk. We can't control all outcomes; just focus on what you can.
Hiding in a bunker has never been the answer to challenging circumstances. Don't make decisions out of fear.
Many even leaders and experts will need to discover who they are without stable salaries, traditional benefits, or fancy titles.
No one has the answers to what we're navigating. Experts who've never been without a job may have much less experience navigating uncertainty than we regular people.
We humans are a resilient bunch.
This disruption will provide an opportunity for everyone to discover a sense of worth and purpose that has nothing to do with externalities.
Our material comforts are not as necessary to our happiness as we think they are. Enjoy them, yes, but hold them loosely.
Life and living remain incredibly worthwhile—no matter what comes.
My "expertise"
When I retooled my career into tech in the early 2010s, I was pursuing practical, quantifiable skills. What I value much more now are my human skills that cannot be replaced by AI.
What about me can be replaced by AI:
What about me can't be replaced by AI:
Web development and pretty much everything practical I learned and did in a nine-year tech career
Marketing operations
Project management
Email development and deployment
Marketing campaign strategy
Being intermediate-to-expert at dozens of tech tools (Marketo, Zapier, Salesforce, Webflow, Photoshop, multiple ESPs, etc.)
Basically every hard skill listed on LinkedIn that used to provide "job security"
Marketing operations
Project management
Email development and deployment
Marketing campaign strategy
Being intermediate-to-expert at dozens of tech tools (Marketo, Zapier, Salesforce, Webflow, Photoshop, multiple ESPs, etc.)
Basically every hard skill listed on LinkedIn that used to provide "job security"
Curiosity, a love of learning and creating
What I've learned from every risk or attempt and "failure"
Resilience and a strong work ethic
A generally good attitude
My faith in something bigger than all of us
The ability to simplify and get at the root of the problem
Discernment, intuition, decisiveness
An ability to connect with others and read a room
An organized life and mind
My dazzling sense of humor
What I've learned from every risk or attempt and "failure"
Resilience and a strong work ethic
A generally good attitude
My faith in something bigger than all of us
The ability to simplify and get at the root of the problem
Discernment, intuition, decisiveness
An ability to connect with others and read a room
An organized life and mind
My dazzling sense of humor
You might want to do the same exercise. Stop viewing hard skills as your safety net, and start valuing and developing human excellence & resilience.
What I'm doing
What I'm choosing to do in the face of the AI tech wave:
Seriously limiting or eliminating my use of AI for anything related to judgment, validation, decision-making, relationships, etc.
Learning all I can (especially philosophically) about AI so I can use it in intentionally and skeptically.
Making my phone boring again, quitting/seriously limiting social media. No doom-scrolling.
Doing consistent stuff about my big dreams of making a living off my writing (writing my third book, humorous-ish/human stories on Substack.)
Reading more physical books.
Prioritizing spiritual and physical health and healthy relationships.
Choosing faith > fear, over and over.
Reducing my consumption of "expert" advice and tuning into my intuition.
Taking bigger action to reach more people with my very human platform of books, stories, sketches and 1:1/consulting/speaking work.
Learning all I can (especially philosophically) about AI so I can use it in intentionally and skeptically.
Making my phone boring again, quitting/seriously limiting social media. No doom-scrolling.
Doing consistent stuff about my big dreams of making a living off my writing (writing my third book, humorous-ish/human stories on Substack.)
Reading more physical books.
Prioritizing spiritual and physical health and healthy relationships.
Choosing faith > fear, over and over.
Reducing my consumption of "expert" advice and tuning into my intuition.
Taking bigger action to reach more people with my very human platform of books, stories, sketches and 1:1/consulting/speaking work.
My advice
For knowledge workers/everyday people:
Stop viewing the company or any job as the provider of safety. It's simply where you're making your money right now.
Especially if you like your job, learn and implement AI, not to stay safely employed forever, but to simply buy you time.
Learn about AI—the developments, potential ramifications, what the creators of it are talking about.
Don't become dependent on artificial intelligence or forget who you are without it.
Get serious about building something of your own, even if just keeps you from putting all your eggs in the "job" basket.
Prioritize relationships and real human connection.
Use your current paycheck to build financial runway. Have a written plan for your spending so you can see yourself hitting peace-of-mind milestones.
Prioritize creativity. Consider whether you might have the big dreams you have for just such a time as this.
Do whatever it takes to hear yourself think, and stop looking to "experts" to have your answers.
Do not let AI start telling you how to live your life. Remember, you are the human and only humans can have the experiences we're on earth to have.
Simplify, simplify, simplify.
Develop resilience by taking risks. Do things outside of your comfort zone.
Spend time in nature and notice small things you could still appreciate even if you (temporarily) lost lots of what you think you need to be happy.
Especially if you like your job, learn and implement AI, not to stay safely employed forever, but to simply buy you time.
Learn about AI—the developments, potential ramifications, what the creators of it are talking about.
Don't become dependent on artificial intelligence or forget who you are without it.
Get serious about building something of your own, even if just keeps you from putting all your eggs in the "job" basket.
Prioritize relationships and real human connection.
Use your current paycheck to build financial runway. Have a written plan for your spending so you can see yourself hitting peace-of-mind milestones.
Prioritize creativity. Consider whether you might have the big dreams you have for just such a time as this.
Do whatever it takes to hear yourself think, and stop looking to "experts" to have your answers.
Do not let AI start telling you how to live your life. Remember, you are the human and only humans can have the experiences we're on earth to have.
Simplify, simplify, simplify.
Develop resilience by taking risks. Do things outside of your comfort zone.
Spend time in nature and notice small things you could still appreciate even if you (temporarily) lost lots of what you think you need to be happy.
For companies:
Hire entrepreneurs who are used to moving fast and who have developed good judgment, discernment, and a high risk tolerance.
Prioritize hiring people who have used their own initiative to do/build/create things.
Be very thoughtful about your implementation of AI, and don't layer it on top of existing dysfunction. Simplify, simplify, simplify, otherwise, you're going to end up with lipstick on a pig.
Think of which people you'd want on the Titanic with time enough to avoid the iceberg. Find ways to empower their creativity and autonomy.
Encourage employees to prepare for AI disruption as an individual, not an employee. Don't sugarcoat things or pretend like it's not happening.
Prioritize hiring people who have used their own initiative to do/build/create things.
Be very thoughtful about your implementation of AI, and don't layer it on top of existing dysfunction. Simplify, simplify, simplify, otherwise, you're going to end up with lipstick on a pig.
Think of which people you'd want on the Titanic with time enough to avoid the iceberg. Find ways to empower their creativity and autonomy.
Encourage employees to prepare for AI disruption as an individual, not an employee. Don't sugarcoat things or pretend like it's not happening.
Who I'd love to connect with
I'm eager to engage with thoughtful employers, entrepreneurs, government leaders, organizers, journalists and editors interested in empowering everyday humans in the AI conversation.
If this describes you, please send me a message.
If this describes you, please send me a message.
Context for my perspective:
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Rain-soaked on the southern coast of Greece, post-start-up explore chapter. The things we do in hopes of a good sunset view.
- Early to tech: Retooled my career into tech via a Silicon Valley immersive web development boot camp.
- Ten years in tech: I've been a project-, people-, web-, and tech- manager as well as an IC—at a marketing agency, in a traditional corporate role, and at a series B start-up. I've lived the dynamics first-hand.
- Varied background: I worked in commercial real estate in Vegas pre-2008, and cancer clinical trials (regulatory). I've also collected insects for biological weed control among other interesting jobs.
- Left voluntarily: I've left multiple jobs on good terms to work on my own things. I'm experienced with inside + outside "corporate safety."
- Financial coaching background: Seen BTS of the finances of scores of people with incomes ranging from $30K to $750K+.
- Written books: Distilled my thinking about intentional living, spending, and building creative lives we actually like into two books. A third is in the works.
- Lived uncertainty: Traveled for 2 years. Got lost, and found lots of answers. Lived with ~5% of my possessions, been scrappy for income, and found even "Life, Uncertain" to still be very worthwhile.
Join the list.
The Dear Fellow Human newsletter is where I share things related to the themes of my books: navigating life in uncertain times (AI, anyone?), taking risks, creativity, personal agency, and living with a sense of adventure.