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And yet more thinking about AI

Carl Setzer1 Comment
person reaching out to a robot

This morning, I read a LinkedIn post by Bryan Creely, who writes about career management and job hunting. (I highly recommend his work, btw).

I feel that this quote summarizes the whole thing:

They spent the last 3 years scaring us into believing we were about to go the way of the dinosaur.

And now they’re walking back that narrative and beginning to rehire for roles they eliminated due to AI.

That’s what pundits do, prognosticate, then shift, following the zeitgeist where it leads. That’s the case with AI. When they were selling AI to corporations and investors, it was all about replacing workers. That most jobs were going to be replaced by AI. But, anyway, as I expected, AI’s costs turned out to be more than estimated. I believe the abrupt rise in costs caught many companies completely off-guard, though I don’t think it was hard to predict. I wasn’t exactly right on my reasons, but I expected that token costs would have to go up. So, yay me.

Not too surprising, but we haven’t heard these pundits acknowledge their error or overestimation. Yet they are quietly walking back a lot of the hype. Better than a bursting bubble, though I’m not sure we’re out of the woods on that possibility yet.

One additional thing: I think those hyping AI were stunned by the way the public went negative on them. They seemed truly stunned by crowds of college grads booing them, by protesters at hearings for proposed data centers, and by the bipartisan nature of it all. But, really, your messaging leaned on the redundancy of most of the working population, and not-so-subtly hinted at mass unemployment and other such things. Add in electricity costs, and how the price increases are being pushed onto the communities these things are in, environmental costs, and it is so obvious that this was going to be the outcome.

So, it makes me feel better that we’re stepping back some from the irrational exuberance before this thing exploded. Yeah, I’m not convinced we’re free of the bubble collapsing, though my hope is that it’ll gently fizzle and deflate. I can be hopeful, after all.

Let me end with this comic from Pascal Bornett.

For the love of writing

Carl Setzer1 Comment
close up of vintage typewriter keys

I came across the image above via my Pinterest feed. As I love writing and its glorious accouterments: typewriters, journals, pens, stationery…all such lovely things for me…this image sung to me.

It makes me think of Kerouac, typing madly upon his spool of paper. Poets, journalists, writers of years past, clicking these keys magically. Yeah, I know these folks didn’t Bullet Journal, but at least the book has a classic style.

So, that’s how I started my day. How about you?

Some Additional Thoughts on Rebranding Myself

Carl Setzer
woman in white dress shirt and blue denim jeans standing beside man in brown long sleeve

If you’ve read this site for a while, you’ll know I’ve been considering comms as a formal career path for ages. Here’s some additional background into how I got here.

I started studying photography back in junior high. I fell in love with writing in high school. These are the related things that have lingered in my life the longest. They’re also key things that brought me into blogging, though my love of technology also helped with that.

Over the years, I’ve spent time creating web content, creating and managing social media accounts, writing strategies, blogs, Google and Bing business pages. I’ve created social media audits. Crafted press releases. Google and Facebook ads. Flyers, postcards, billboards, Facebook pages, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram accounts.

And the web! I built and managed websites on WordPress, Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace. I also used Microsoft Front Page and FTP. And, holding an ATA in web design, I’ve built sites with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Also, I’ve managed newsletters. Back in the olden days, I wrote mailings in Quark, Publisher, and InDesign. With that, I loved my design classes focused on InDesign and Photoshop. I created email newsletters in Outlook, but have also used Mailchimp extensively. I’ve also used several CRM tools and built many types of campaigns within that.

Video? Yeah, I’ve created and edited videos in Premiere Pro. I’ve run cameras, audio, and media for live events and livestreams. I’ve streamed them via both YouTube and Facebook.

There are the basics: creating decks in PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Mediashout.

I did public policy and advocacy work for AARP, where I created postcard mailers, flyers, and t-shirts for a telemarketing campaign in Montana.

I worked for a printing company, where I got to do paste-up and other press assistant work, as well as bindery and bulk mailings.

So, I have an extensive background in this stuff. And it’s all stuff I’m proud of. I guess I see this as not so much a pivot, but as a focus. It’s where I’ll focus my skill growth and development. For instance, I’m leaning towards working towards a Communications Degree through WGU. I also want to spend some time diving deeper into data analytics, as I think that’s a crucial part of comms going forward.

AI, Communications, and Career Explorations

Carl Setzer
freelancer browsing laptop and taking notes in notebook during work

I watched this video yesterday from Network Chuck, and went and followed his advice.

Basically, I asked Claude Fable Five to consider my resume, what I’ve posted on my blog, and social media, tell me what kinds of themes you see, what I’m missing and what I should be doing. I was expecting something about project management, perhaps IT, maybe admin work. I was not expecting this summary:

  • You’re a translator and a noticer, not a builder
  • You’re a steward of place and memory
  • Attention is your actual discipline

Nor was I expecting this: “Careerwise, that points to communications/digital stewardship for mission-rooted local organizations (which you’re already doing at EWC and Trinity, and which the web-consulting lane extends). Lifewise, it points to the writing.” So, I’ve long loved writing. It’s what I do in order to process life, whether that’s my haiku, or longer journaling, it’s what my soul loves and needs. Way back when, I quit a computer science major to study writing. My heroes are writers. It makes sense in so many ways. And, as Claude points out, I have >2k subscribers of this blog. I guess I’m doing something wright, er, right.

I’ve spent so much time exploring career options, trying to find the right place for me in this career world. Years of work, really. Even so, this was an eye opening exercise.

Writing has long been highly important to me. As such, it is also a focal point of my insecurities. I nickpick myself hard. Needless to say, it’s very affirming to read this from the AI luminary Claude Fable Five. I still have work to do to quell my insecurities, of course.

So, related to this, Claude suggests the following for my work: “Aim the job search at communications and community engagement roles, not IT or PM”. I’ve been working with it today to build a plan to move forward. I’ve started by tweaking this website, as well as my LinkedIn profile. I’m not in a raging hurry, so I’m fine with baby-steps.

It’s also recommending WGU’s Communications Degree as a pathway for growth, which is something I’ve played with. My hope is for an employer to cover that via tuition benefits. However, I might want to start that on my own, as neither of my roles offer that right now, and are unlikely to offer that sooner.

So, years of work, both exploring opportunities as well as writing/creating, I’m pleased to see this alignment coming forth. As I plan this pivot into something that aligns nicely with my interests and experience, I see a LOT of work on the horizon. But not a sense of dread. Looking forward to the next wave in my career.

Tonight’s Haiku

Carl Setzer 
a gentle rainfall 
cooling the summer air
calmness fills my soul

Scam Alert!

Carl Setzer1 Comment
a person with handcuffs holding a sign that says fraud

This really isn’t so much of an alert as a scam reminder. As you may know, I work at both a church and a non-profit. There’s a scam that’s been running through the church and non-profit community for some time now, but it’s a continuing one. Here’s an example of one a member got recently.

One modern challenge: scammers are utilizing various tools to connect people and institutions so they can send personalized messages like the one above. This one impersonated our pastor and was sent to a member of our congregation. It’s so easy to make these connections. These things make it that much harder to filter out the scammers.

A few details to feed your mind’s suspicions. At no org I’ve worked at or consulted with have we ever asked for gift cards. That should be the first suspicious thing. There are some additional clues, like the email address not being one he’s ever used. Of course, that requires looking deeper than many of us reflexively do. It sucks that we need to be even more vigilant and pretty much never trust an email.

The folks over at CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) have a nice guide to grow your awareness of scams. I encourage you to check that out.

This is an unfortunate part of modern life, I’m afraid. Let’s do our best to stay safe out there.

I love this Avalanches Video

Carl Setzer
youtube logo on smartphone

I came across The Avalanches, and this video, years ago. I’ve become quite fond of them ever since. I just love this one, though. It’s a clever song, and cleverer (is that a word?) video. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it this Wednesday!

A good night senryu for you

Carl Setzer 
the prison of “should”
fear and insecurities 
keep holding me back

Just a quick little one before I head off to sleep.

Mindset morning haiku

Carl Setzer1 Comment

on the edge of dreams
garrulous crows chattering
as dawn progresses

I hope your week brings you closer to joy.

Some Wisdom For The Day

Carl Setzer2 Comments
scrabble letters forming the word wisdom

Came across this gem on Pinterest:

This is powerful wisdom for me to absorb. One of my well-refined skills entails reviewing all my life’s failures, elaborating on how foolish those choices were. I need to remember that I did my best at the time. The reason why I would make different choices now is that I LEARNED from my mistakes.

The cruel things we do to ourselves are fascinating, and sad. They rarely (if ever) add value to our lives. And yet, we opt for this behavior again and again. No wonder we’re so insecure: we invest incredible amounts of energy tearing ourselves down.

Anyway, I resolve to continue to challenge these destructive thoughts. You in?