One of the most important mindset blocks you could possibly work on in the coming years is that voice that says “you’re not good enough.”
We’re on the edge of a big shift. Software is getting an overhaul, as AI gets integrated into more and more tools, and as new tools spring out of AI.
We’re going to see an explosion of tools in the next few years. Digital helpers of every type.
And they’re going to be good at what they do. Really good.
Nay-sayers right now are like, “eh, it’s not very good at [insert whatever topic here]. Look how basic these answers are,” or “yeah but people won’t know what to ask,” or “the human interaction is irreplaceable.”
But this isn’t like software of olden days (like last year 😅). Software development has historically always been more or less limited to the speed of the humans who can improve the code.
But AI can help improve itself. And last I checked, computers are kinda fast at shit like that.
Which means, AI’s answers will improve.
Tools will be created on top of the AI, to help people ask better questions.
… the human interaction … is actually partly replaceable. (I know, cringe, lies, but before you rage-toss your phone…) Have you ever bonded with a teddy bear? Have you ever deeply loved and cared for a teddy bear? Felt like it had a personality? Felt like you understood each other? And what if that teddy bear could talk to you? Could comfort you? Could engage with you with actual words?
There will be a human element that will always be important. But we’re going to see software growth like we’ve never experienced.
And it’s going to be better at all the things that we are.
Which means … we need to lean in to not knowing.
We’ve spent at least the last 40 years or so, putting a high premium on information knowledge and efficiency. We need to let go of that premium.
We need to be okay being WRONG, ffs.
So, how to do that, because easier said than done, right? Here are some ideas. (And maybe ChatGPT has some better ones. 😅)
Celebrate when you notice yourself being unsure. Literally give yourself a little cheer and say “yay! I have no idea what’s going on!” Celebrating those moments creates safety. Creating safety around those moments allows them to feel safer in the future.
Explore ways you can use some of these tools that will soon be smarter than you. What would you build, what would you do if you had a sidekick who knew everything? That sidekick is coming. Practice dreaming of those possibilities.
And practice going slow. I just got off a call for an AI course I’m helping run, and I had to go sit on the cement outside my door and just … not move for a few minutes. It wasn’t about connecting to the earth, or finding my oneness with nature or whatever else (I’m sure those things were happening, those aren’t my words or my focus).
It was just about being warm and sitting tf still. It was about touching this hot, flat, boring slab of concrete that doesn’t move or think or react (…yet. lol?).
So. Let yourself suck at stuff. Let yourself move slower than the things around you. Celebrate it. Enjoy it. In some ways, that could be the goal of all these advancements … not to produce more, but to BE more, and to DO less.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if AI let us balance out.