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Unpopular opinion: Gen-AI is destroying the quality of our creative work. When AI is increasingly used for creative work, people begin to focus only on the output. "Look what I can make! It only took me 12 minutes!!!" But... The beauty of art lies in the process. It is this process thst allows the viewer, reader, or listener to interpret the message and build meaning for themselves. Although I can still use my own process to create art, it's harder to justify spending time on it. I imagine the next generstion won't invest time in creativity at all. They will become calculating curators at best. It takes years of toil to learn how to insert meaning between the words, between the lines. That is somethin AI can never do. But, due to their high time-preference mindsets, people fail to see the value in work which may offer a greater ROI, but take longer to get there. We have become blinded by the false promise of infinite productivity.
Chapter 12 — Riding a bike image Here is a list of work-related things I never thought I’d do: * Create video courses * Build a website (or six) * Host a podcast / livestream * Hire an assistant (+ fire an assistant) * Sell products and services on Zoom calls * Become a social media influencer (sort of) * Help dozens of clients get published or promoted * Run a paid community with 100+ members (not OnlyFans) After all, I was just a lowly English teacher. Before 2019, I wrote lesson plans, taught classes, and marked homework. Well, after switching to online classes offering writing help, I began to learn more about how coaching differs from teaching and how digital businesses differ from teaching via online platforms. I learned that a coaching session has no fixed price. Value is completely subjective. Everything depends on framing, strategies, and results. I was liberated from the idea that my time was worth 10 Euros an hour, or 20, or even 250! All of the items on the list occurred within three years or so. They were terrifying and difficult at first, but practice makes better, and once you get more comfortable with each process, it’s like riding a bike. To improve more quickly, I took courses on marketing and business management, read a ton, joined helpful online communities, posted daily on socials, and, most importantly, I got used to failing fast. The benefit of an online coaching business is that you start with a laptop and very few overheads. The only investment you make is your time, so you need to adapt quickly and test the market a lot. I never thought I’d enjoy making videos, penning articles about language, and spending so much time on LinkedIn. But I did. My posts got millions of views (combined), and I attracted a little army of followers. Being my own boss was scary and rewarding in equal measure. The highs are 10 times higher than when you are working for someone else; the lows are devastating (more on this in a future chapter). What I loved most was the actual coaching: getting on weekly calls with clients, giving advice and learning from community members, editing great work, and getting messages about struggles and successes. The problem with a coaching business is the ‘business’ part. You spend 90% of your time doing marketing, sales, and admin, and only 10% doing what you love. How did my own writing fit into all of this? 1. Growing my skills in content writing — course materials, articles, and web copy. 2. Using LinkedIn as a creative outlet — writing funny slideshows about badgers and awful corpo influencers. 3. Continuing my narrative writing — I prepared to publish my second book of short fiction. More on my second book next time… Have you started a digital business? What did you love/hate about it? #unphiltered