I’ve been thinking about starting a newsletter for a while now. I want to focus on summaries and what stood out for me from among the many cool talks I’ve been tuning into about AI in the past few months. Basically, I want to jot down what I learn and have an easy reference for myself. And who knows, maybe others could benefit too, considering how busy life gets and how little time we have to pick up new stuff.
Why AI? Is it just because it’s a trendy new thing? Not really. In the future, bots are going to be running the show in many ways. Not like they’re going to steal jobs from database folks or start cruising around in self-driving cars, but they’re definitely going to be a big part of things. It’s smart to get a grip on ethical issues, privacy issues, what decisions they’re going to make for us, and how to avoid getting played.
I’m a Gen Z techie. Time has chilled me out and taught me a lot. We used to love saying we’d “automate ourselves out of a job.” It was all about delegating dull, repetitive tasks to machines, and we took pride in it. Companies paid us good bucks for that skill. But you know what? I never really considered that some folks might actually prefer those so-called boring jobs. For them, life’s a rollercoaster, and these gigs provide stability. Plus, learning new stuff for a different job can be a real pain in the wallet and the brain.
During the whole Covid mess, there were days when I wished for a snooze-worthy job like being an operational database admin. Just clock in, check on backups, peek at some screens, and call it a day(most days, not all 
. But it’s not just the snoozers who are getting teched out. Even writers and artists are getting a run for their creativity. Jobs that let people shine and bloom are getting taken over by computers, and that’s a real bummer.
We’re all kind of navigating through this brave new world. I started binging on podcasts to learn from science geeks and tech thinkers about what’s next. I’m not saying I buy into everything I’ve heard, but it’s definitely broadened my horizons. And I want to pass on some of those lightbulb moments in my new series, “Bot Banter Bi Weekly.” Kicking things off this Wednesday – stay tuned!