Challenge and opportunity

I am back! Ten days “offline”. For me that just means online without talking to anyone.

My break came at a time of high industry (and personal) stress.

Seeing talented people lose motivation bums me the hell out.

Reach out and say thanks - Kevin Powell

Thank you to those who reached out whilst I was offline :)

Catching up on RSS and reading educators question their worth makes me angry. Seeing more people cite “AI” as a primary reason to exit tech boils my blood!

AI was the last straw. Have you heard of that island off India where the indigenous population kills any outsiders fool-hardy enough to land? They are doing the rest of us a favor by preserving a way of life we may need again someday, or at the very least should not want to see completely extinguished.

I Am Retiring from Tech to Live Offline - Chad Whitacre

The chatbox psychosis epidemic remains in full force. Despite countless studies suggesting AI isn’t paying off. Despite countless examples showing that AI is broken by design. Despite growing sentiment that AI isn’t welcome. Despite everything, the stochastic parrot feeders insist that our future is token servitude.

I crashed out hard at Google’s deskilling. That incensed me. To see the word “skill” redefined and sold as a directory of markdown files is a grave insult.

An opportunity

I’m still motivated. In the face of career-ending threats I see opportunity. I’ll be setting up shop as a limited company soon(-ish) after 15+ years of self-employment. Expect more news on that front later in the year.

First I need to get a grip on unhealthy levels of stress. That means prioritising paid client work over my blog and social media antics! I work Mon–Thursday for exactly that reason. Friday is my personal day. Lately though I’ve found myself in keyboard warrior mode at 11am midweek. That must stop if I am to survive!

The challenge is to continue enjoying my profession. I want to find a way to encourage and remotivate others too. At the same time, I can’t ignore the continued assault. The web must be fought for. That ain’t easy when it’s all so demoralising. I won’t be silenced in my fight against alternative thoughts. The gatekeepers cannot be allowed to turn one of humanity’s greatest creations into a tokendollar economy.

I can’t believe this needs repeating but: do not replace real skills with a directory of markdown files. Stay hungry to learn. Fight for the web.

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