And boy, did the confusion hit hard

I first began educating people about AI tools in 2022 via in-person keynotes and workshops, which I still conduct today. But much of the media content I made about AI tools was met with resistance. The most common critique is that these are extractive tools doing environmental damage. That the data centers powering them consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, and that the communities hit hardest are those that are already exploited. These are valid concerns. We have seen large companies exploit at-risk communities time and again throughout American history. I believe there aren’t enough mechanisms in place holding these organizations accountable. A national review of roughly 700 US data centers found that nearly half sit in census tracts already carrying above-median environmental burdens, measured by the CDC’s Environmental Justice Index.

But I felt compelled to teach regardless

At the same time, I do not believe these are valid reasons to remain willfully ignorant about a powerful technology that can be extraordinarily empowering when properly utilized. So I found myself in an odd position: Having a passion for learning and teaching the tools, with an audience of people who were resistant to learning them. I changed my strategy. Using the studio I built for my Curiosity Theory science podcast, I partnered with LinkedIn Learning to produce educational courses about AI Agents, Claude and Copilot. Instead of arguing my nuanced point about why people should stay aware and capable with new technology, I focused on teaching the people who wanted to learn.

That effort began in December 2025. Eight months later, my self-paced courses have reached over 100,000 professionals on LinkedIn Learning. Separately, I have trained tens of thousands more through in-person and virtual engagements. Although my courses have received positive reviews, the research on how we actually use AI at work suggests that my training videos don’t often directly lead to behavioral changes. This was a challenging realization to digest.

The data suggests this is a major industry problem

I started researching and learned that this issue was reflected largely across enterprises and institutions. In November 2025, Workday surveyed 3,200 employees and business leaders about how AI was helping their work. Their research suggests that for every 10 hours of efficiency gained through AI tools, nearly 4 hours are lost to correcting, verifying, or rewriting what the AI produced. Further, only 14% of employees say they get a consistent, net-positive outcome from using AI at all.

The challenge for these employees seems to be that they require additional training. What’s most helpful is longer training that shows them specifically how to use tools in their current role. Several organizations’ research studies have corroborated these points. In July 2025, MIT’s Media Lab reviewed over 300 public AI deployments, ran 52 organizational interviews, and surveyed more than 150 business leaders. They found that 95% of corporate generative AI pilots produce no measurable return on investment.

Companies are continuously buying access to AI capabilities and hoping that employee competence will swiftly follow– because they’re expecting their employees to take initiative and become self-directed learners. But in large companies with regulations where AI-generated missteps can cost billions of dollars, there are many valid reasons why employees may not jump at their first chance to use AI. And when they do, the results often seem amateurish, a term coined “workslop”.

How I’ll continue to improve my own AI empowerment & education practice

Reaching 100,000 people felt like a major milestone, but I aspire to greater depth as I continue to build. Most of my keynotes and workshops last 1 hour max. I provide handouts and links to my educational content, but there’s always a limit to the amount of insightful information I can provide. I always want to give more. What I’d like to start doing is spend a half or full day at organizations, really listen to employees’ concerns, and sit with them to identify specific approaches to tool usage that can meet work demands. I’m aware that this is far less scalable than self-paced video content, but the educator in me wants to have strong positive sustainable results. If you’re ever interested in learning what that could look like, check out my website: justinshaifer.com!

Below is my current library of Linkedin Learning Courses:

• AI Agents for Everyday Professionals

• Claude Cowork 7-Day Challenge

• Copilot Cowork 7-Day Challenge

• Claude Code for Everyday Professionals

• AI Agents in Your Browser: Boosting Productivity with Gemini in Chrome

I was asked “What other projects have you created that you would be proud of in 20+ years?” The question hit me like a ton of bricks. I participated in many cool projects over the years, but how many had I created that would feel continuously rewarding? How many that others would find meaningful in 20 years?

I struggled to answer the question.

I recounted other creative projects. Many of them had been short-form videos and 1-day keynote speeches. I considered myself a bit of a first-mover. I have made a career from creating content online full-time since 2017, before it became massively popular, or was viewed as a viable career path. I just enjoyed creating silly things that educated people and resonated.

I was disappointed to say that it’d be hard to imagine celebrating any of these projects in 20 years.

I began to obsess over the question: What am I building that will last?

It felt existential, like the most important question I could answer. I began to feel like my short-form videos were a step in the opposite direction. Was I really burning the limited time I had on Earth to maximize engagement, all for a quick buck? Why would that matter to me or anyone else? How can I spend time today creating things that will last tomorrow?

I sought answers elsewhere.

The following year, I met Bill Nye for work. We co-host a K-12 science competition annually sponsored by the Japanese electronics company Toshiba.

On the night we first met, I told him how inspired I was by his flagship show, Bill Nye the Science Guy. His efforts inspired many incredible science communicators today. But a deeper question emerged: Why did Bill Nye the Science Guy actually last so long? The show’s first episode aired in 1993, and more than 30 years later, children still watch it in classrooms and know who Bill Nye is. Why?

In addition to Bill Nye’s iconic science persona and comedic timing, the show tried something quite revolutionary in educational science media. The quick cut.. At the time, most educational shows used a slow, single-camera lecture format, for example the science show Mr. Wizard’s World.

Quick cuts were most popular in MTV music videos, where they were tactically used to appeal to short attention spans. The producers of Bill Nye’s show applied this quick-cut style to children’s educational programming, and it was highly successful.

Ever watch TV or movies from the 90s and early 2000s and find them hard to watch because of their pacing? If you watch an episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy, it’s still watchable today, even with our cooked attention spans. Despite its dramatic success, it took four years of development and pitching before it was greenlit.

Unfortunately, our fast-paced information economy rarely provides space (or funding!) for stepping back to think about creating projects with lasting impact. At least not without extreme intention and contrarian thinking.

Today, in my Tulsa-based studio, I have created an environment that allows for deliberate separation and long-term thinking. I’ve taken baby steps toward building projects that last. I’ve made educational courses on AI tools that are viewed and valued by thousands of people several months after their initial release, but they too will inevitably fall off.

I now know what I want to build that will last, and this article will be my first of many times sharing my thought processes.. I am working on an epic-scale science fiction novel. One that spans across billions of years. I’d like to use my production skills to one day turn this into a massive science fiction film project. It’d be nice to receive the financial backing necessary to get it produced with a huge budget, but I see a pathway to being able to produce it regardless.

While working on the novel in silence, I realized there might be others who think like me, who want to learn what it takes to build things that last. To cultivate the mindset to delay gratification indefinitely, work without reward, stay disciplined, and truly build things that stand the test of time.

So I’ll begin providing regular updates of my progress, and what I learn on my journey to stand the test of time. Let me know about things YOU want to build that will last. Don’t forget to subscribe for updates!

This week I spoke in front of about 2,500 professionals in higher education. Mid-panel, I casually dropped the term "vibe coding" . One of my fellow panelists stopped me: "You'll have to let me know what that is."

I paused, then turned to the room.

“Raise your hand if you DON’T know what vibe coding is.”

Over 80% of the room raised their hands. Roughly 2,000 educators who shape the future of learning. They had never heard a term I’ve been using for almost a year.

For those who don’t know: vibe coding means using plain English to tell AI what to build, and it builds it; without any coding experience. You describe the software, maybe add screenshots or other context, AI writes the code, and you can make apps, websites, games, even operating systems! This changes everything. How many new people can build software that never felt empowered?

That moment on stage told me the AI awareness gap is a lot wider than most people think. And I’d bet higher education isn’t the only field experiencing it. You might be too.

So I built an AI readiness assessment for you to see how you compare to other professionals, and get resources matched to your skill level.

And I vibe coded the whole thing!

Take it here: https://www.justinshaifer.com/ai-assessment.html

1. My unprecedented gut health = Your unprecedented opportunity

Living as an expat in Europe and Mexico dramatically improved my gut health. This has happened before for myself and friends. I found it strange. So I started researching...

The research supports my feeling. In the US, we use additives like Potassium Bromate and Titanium Dioxide, which are banned in the EU. (Source: Environmental Working Group). The US’s FDA (Food and Drug administration) often takes a retroactive stance in banning preservatives and pesticides that may cause inflammation and other symptoms for US citizens. For example, Potassium Bromate is regulated but not banned outright. The EU takes a much stricter stance on the use of these preservatives, and is often more firm about serving food items that are ‘in season’.

The worst part of this realization is learning how unknowingly complicit we’ve been to these changes as US consumers. Our consumption habits cause producers of groceries to use these products that may harm us, but it’s not easy for us to stop consuming them, because we’d be priced out of our food. This creates a vicious cycle.

I’m returning to the US with a renewed sense of fervor, mostly due to gut health that I haven’t experienced since my early 20s. 10/10 highly recommend.

2. What was I thinking about? The most Scalable Way to Inspire.

A huge part of my time abroad was dedicated to writing my first high-concept sci-fi book. It’s been slow, and methodical, but it solidified a core belief of mine: The most scalable way to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers is by sparking their imaginations.

Labs and classrooms are important, but they have their limitations. It’s hard for a young student to positively associate these experiences in a classroom with 29 other kids. But a story puts them in an entirely different headspace, and can reach millions.

Think about The Martian. Or Interstellar. Or, the movie that inspired me: The Matrix. They made concepts like virtual reality, botany, or astrophysics seem to learn about and work on someday. And the biggest sci fi films today often consult real scientists to ground their work in reality.

Sci-fi acts as a north star for young people to build toward. And I believe we need a new north star. I’m writing this book to provide that. Stay subscribed to hear more about how this writing journey continues!

3. The “Agentic” Shift: This ain’t called The Fascinate Forecast for no reason!

Last year, I wrote about AI Agents becoming the next wave of AI. Today, my AI Agent LinkedIn Learning Course is becoming a top-performer for everyday professionals because the world is realizing that “Chatting” with AI was only a starting point.

I’m looking forward to teaching about other Agentic AI tools this year; because I think there will be a major breakthrough:

• Gemini in Chrome: Agentic browsers are the next wave. Soon we may rarely need to browse the internet with enormous tabs. I know my laptop RAM will be relieved.

• Claude Cowork: This AI tool can literally navigate your desktop and handle back-office tasks like a human hire.

• OpenClaw: This is a fascinating Open Source AI tool that lead to the creation of Moltbook, which was a viral idea for a social media platform for AI Agents- that didn’t exactly go according to plan...

However, with great efficiency comes great responsibility. We can’t talk about Agentic breakthroughs without addressing the environmental and ethical ‘elephant in the room’. I do believe tech companies who are participating in excessive consumption of resources in pursuit of profit are being irresponsible. Especially given the exponential growth trajectory of these tools. There are many geopolitical factors that are contributing to this. I plan to write about them in a future article. The political and AI leadership enabling these radical changes need to be held accountable, but unfortunately, there are few mechanisms in place to do so.

For the individual, I do not believe refusing to use AI tools is an effective form of protest. This does not make a significant dent in the overall usage of AI tools (enterprise clients are responsible for the vast majority of AI data center usage via training and inference.) And there is an immense opportunity cost with not becoming fluent with these tools. Soon, AI tool usage will be as necessary for knowledge worker jobs as email.

4. 50,000 Curious Minds!

Big news for the home team: Our science, technology and education podcast Curiosity Theory, officially hit 10k follows on Instagram and 50k downloads!

Dakotah and I have uncovered a massive hunger for conversational science communication that is critical, thoughtful, and consistently curious. We’d love to have you on the journey with us.

In the past month, we released an episode with legendary science communicator Hank Green about the importance of Curiosity in today’s era; definitely worth a listen!

Check us out on all platforms!

5. What can we learn from 20 years of STEM Success?

I recently returned to the TGR Learning Lab for its 20th anniversary in Anaheim, CA. I spoke to alumni, and senior executives, and gained an understanding of how to create a STEM program with longevity and intentionality. Programs like TGR yield amazing results because they treat kids like the architects they are.

Here‘s more info on the TGR Learning Lab. Check out the recap video I created with them!

What do you think about AI Agents? Your Gut Health Today? STEM programs in 2026? Let me know! I’d love to have a thoughtful discussion about these topics!

In an era where AI can generate several dozen podcast episodes, characters, and a high production value setup for a few hundred bucks; what’s the point of getting good at “IRL” media production and sitting down to film these educational conversations when we could prompt and generate them to look and sound exactly like us? Did I waste my time, money, and energy building this studio?

I made my first science YouTube series in 2017, produced my first animated series in 2018, and by 2022 was producing and hosting educational science shows for PBS, Discovery, and many other mainstream brands. My unconventional career started to form a clear path. Then Generative AI arrived, and much of the federal funding supporting high-production value science communication evaporated. Corporate budgets for high production value work shrank in tandem with the mass popularity of social media marketing. So what’s the long-term usefulness of my skillset and resulting mindset?

I received answers from an unlikely example:

The Disney Imagineers: Some folks with cool jobs

At this year’s Afrotech, I met Lanny Smoot , one of my STEM heroes! Disney’s most prolific inventor with over 100 patents, the first Disney Imagineer inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame since Walt Disney himself. He created the extendable, and super cool looking Star Wars lightsabers as well as the HoloTile a clever device that solves a mobility problem with VR headsets.

Lanny Smoot’s example reminded me that most successful innovators are continuously curious. They use their imaginations to envision futures so powerful that their technological innovations seem to warp spacetime and make the impossible possible. When hearing Jonathan, another Imagineer describe a day in his workplace, it sounded like tinkering in a laboratory with an exciting vision. Trying their best to get things to work. Which sounds like a supremely cool job; and a thought process that AI can’t automate yet.

That’s when it hit me; that’s what I do! The production skills I’ve acquired were a direct result of being a life-long tinkerer. Even if the skillset itself becomes obsolete, The mindset of a tinkerer and ruthless experimenter is invaluable. I’m excited to tinker with the next generation of AI tools- both agents (In an upcoming course that I’ll share more about soon!) and robots.

Your $20K Robot Butler who is a Peeping Tom

1X Technologies just opened pre-orders for NEO: a 66-pound humanoid robot for household tasks, capable of lifting 154 pounds. There’s only one catch. The $20,000 robot requires a remote human operator with a VR headset watching through its cameras inside your home. Isn’t this comforting?

The “autonomous” robot isn’t autonomous... yet. But every remoted-controlled task today can become autonomous capability tomorrow, as 1X’s AI learns from thousands of hours of sensor data. They’re aiming for hundreds of robots in 2025, potentially a million by 2028.

To those skeptical of how fast this technology will evolve and become mainstream: Have you seen how quickly the AI generated Will Smith spaghetti videos became realistic? That exponential improvement curve applies to physical AI too. Both utilize computer vision algorithms to process visual information from camera inputs; in order to create a world model.

EQ is the new IQ

So what should you be learning while NEO stumbles through kitchens and is on a trajectory to take out trash with flawless elegance?

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2025 survey places “empathy and active listening” in the global top 10 core skills for the first time, alongside AI literacy. AI can simulate empathetic responses, but it can’t actually feel. Building trust, active listening, conflict resolution: these interpersonal skills are less subject to automation... for now. What if high schools and universities began offering courses on empathy, conflict resolution and interpersonal skills? This seems like a no-brainer.

Science Fiction: An exciting creative, educational and inspirational frontier

I’ve written 50 pages of my sci-fi book! I’d love to have it published before Q3 2026. Putting this out there for some accountability.

Science fiction has inspired real technology we take for granted, including video calls, drones, robots, and artificial intelligence. A survey found Doctor Who influenced 74 participants’ education choices and 49 career choices, inspiring them toward physics, astronomy, and engineering. Individuals with STEM backgrounds are even more creatively impacted by sci-fi exposure. So are children!

Stories like The Martian, Interstellar and The Matrix have arguably inspired more scientists and engineers than a decade of career fairs. As a science and technology communicator, creating compelling sci-fi might be my most important and scalable work; with AI giving this work even greater significance.

AI can replicate technical skills but it can’t dream futures so compelling that people reorganize their lives to make them real... yet. Despite how affirming AI can be, it won’t be able to provide a strong enough dose of optimism to stop buying the doom and gloom propaganda. But l can. And I’m using this creative freedom to work on a concept that’s big and exciting!

What will you look back on in 30 years and be proud you poured yourself into?

9 months ago, I packed up my life in Los Angeles and traveled across the globe as a digital nomad. My experiences across 4 countries and 10 cities have blown my mind several times over. These revelations ultimately lead to a decision to purchase a condo in Tulsa, OK. An unlikely next step after living in LA. But when you consider my personal experience and research, my conclusion begins to make a lot of sense.

What do we actually own? Modern Day ‘Technofeudalism’

I knew my next move after traveling would be property ownership, so I found this book about modern ownership structure enticing.

Economist Yanis Varoufakis’s covers ownership in his book Technofuedalism. This idea refers to the death of capitalism and regression to the modern equivalent of a feudalist society. He argues that modern day Technofeudalism is “killing” capitalism, and that we’ve unknowingly become digital serfs. Our digital serfdom endlessly enriches big tech ‘lords’.

Mathematically it’s challenging to argue against his case. The ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech giants make up nearly 40% of the Nasdaq-100 Index. Most of these companies extract value from our digital behavior. They monetize our attention through clicks, scrolls and swipes rather than traditional products.

After reading Varoufakis’s book, I realized I’ve been a renter my entire adult life. I’ve rented Manhattan studios, LA one-bedrooms, DC apartments and commercial studio spaces. But the rabbit hole goes deeper. I don’t actually own the social platforms that part of my business depends on.

Building an audience can be misleading

Many of us bought into enticing marketing campaigns promising opportunity on digital platforms. We believed that this investment in building an audience would yield a guaranteed return in the form of an attentive engaged group for future marketing efforts. While I have been able to build a career partially due to my digital platform, the disconnect between follower counts and actual influence has become stark. Some creators with millions of followers struggle to generate meaningful sales or conversions.

Each platform experiences an early-adopter phase when attention is underpriced. This is often right before platforms reach their peak ‘buzz’. This is usually when the largest creators on each platform are established. During this period, the average creator receives the highest engagement and most views. Eventually, commoditization of attention catches up. Monetization efforts dilute the value of the experience for users. Ad Saturation and changes to algorithms lead to an overall worse, but more addictive experience for the end user.

Individuals who make a living from their created content spend years building massive followings that they don’t actually own. While they can turn these platforms into lucrative revenue streams, they are hardly defensible in a way that many owned assets are. Creators may own an account on a social platform, but they’ve consented to allowing the media they create to be used for AI training data, and can only monetize a small portion of its value to the social platform.

Changes in ownership, algorithms, and AI creators that can churn out content at inhuman speeds, and many other uncontrollable factors can entirely devalue an individual’s social platform.

If you’re one of the early-adopter creators who’s lucky enough to benefit from a period of underpriced attention on a platform, you’ll have to continue making adjustments to your content to appease algorithmic changes and ‘stay relevant’. This leads to long-time creators often experiencing burnout. Their timely investment in media creation doesn’t compare with the residuals received from traditional media platforms like TV shows.

Yet, the creator economy continues to keep building on rented digital land. Today, these digital assets retain value, but is it appreciating? What about tomorrow? These uncertainties have plagued me for years, but I struggled to come up with a solution.

The Solution: Own REAL stuff.

But what’s the true Barrier to Entry?

Living in America, it’s easy to assume that owning assets like physical property require hundreds of thousands in debt, or up front payments that rival a salary. My perspective completely shifted during a trip to Thailand. In Western countries, especially in large cities, we’re conditioned to believe ownership requires massive debt. And that affordable international properties must compromise on quality.

But in Bangkok, Thailand, I visited luxury condos fully furnished with pools, gyms, and many other amenities that would cost $600 / month to rent and ~$50,000 to own. There are many emerging markets across the world where a down payment for a quality property in a nice area could be under $5,000. Countries like Thailand incentivize visiting because the tourism dollars stimulate their economy, although expat travel comes with its challenges.

This is becoming an increasingly attractive prospect for ownership, when a rising number of job opportunities across the globe are becoming remote. Finding an affordable property to own wherever you can is a first step in leaving the hamster wheel of ‘transferring wealth from your boss to your landlord’.

My Decision to Build a Media lab in Tulsa

My travels opened my mind to incredible opportunities outside of America, but also in parts of America that might fly under the radar.

This revelation directly fueled my decision to scout Tulsa, OK as a location prospect. A few of the boxes I was looking to check were:

• Generally warm climate year-round

• Close Proximity to nature

• International Airport within the city

• Opportunities to build community

• Attractive pricing of property ownership

After finding a property that met my criteria, I rebuilt Fascinate HQ into a compact media lab. A turnkey production setup that replaced the expensive production studio space I owned in LA. This setup will serve multiple purposes. With minimal setup, I can build:

1) Long-form Course content

2) Podcasts - both audio and with a 3 camera setup featuring up to 3 total people on camera - (which will be used for Curiosity Theory!)

3) Vertical-style social videos

4) Web applications and games - an exciting frontier that I’ve only scratched the surface of.

Because the vast majority of my income streams are location-agnostic, this is a powerful step towards true ownership.

In Tulsa, my overhead dropped by 60-70% vs. life in LA or NYC. The money I was hemorrhaging on LA rent now goes toward building actual assets. Such as my turnkey media production setup.

Investor and Philosopher Naval Ravikant notes, “A busy calendar and a busy mind will destroy your ability to create anything truly great.”

What’s most exciting about my decision is the unprecedented creative freedom this shift opens up. I can publish work on my timeline, take on projects that feel purposeful and fulfilling rather than just pay bills, and pursue more international opportunities because my fixed costs are manageable. This move protects me from future changes to social algorithms or speaking freely in ways that remove opportunities from brands.

While AI, globalization, and the evolving media landscape threaten traditional employment opportunities, creating a situation where you only have expenses you choose to have seems wise.

What We Can Actually Own

If you’re a modern employee, business owner or freelancer, what can you genuinely own in this techno-feudal landscape? I have a few ideas:

Your Network: Cultivate relationships with colleagues who understand your professional value. The simplest way to “own” this is by creating an organized spreadsheet of your contacts and separating them by industry. LinkedIn has a feature where you can download spreadsheets that separate your contacts by name and job title. Developing and maintaining an email list is also future-proof and social media agnostic.

Your Projects: If you work in STEM fields or media, you have an opportunity to invest your skillset in building a niche flagship project. While short-form video content may not retain its value over time, longer form video docu-series, courses, patents, apps and games may appreciate immensely. Even if they don’t, the skillsets you develop by building these types of projects are an asset.

Your Living Expenses: After I entered my 30s, I developed a mental block around “couch-surfing”. I felt like I was getting too old to crash with friends and family. A bit further into my 30s, I’ve realized that this is an incredible way to save money and keep up with friends and family! I also realized I don’t need to live in a fancy luxury apartment with amenities that I never use. Many of us probably spend more than we need to on location- especially if we’re working remote.

Your Marketable Skills: The technology landscape will continue to evolve at a rapid pace. While it’s important to develop timely and relevant skills today, non-tech skills are less readily replicated by AI. Examples include trades, relationship-based businesses, or the creation of physical products.

Fractions of Traditional Assets: There are modern investing platforms that allow you to participate in fractional ownership of stocks, private companies, and real estate. These substantially lower barriers to entry to participate in appreciation. You don’t have to be a millionaire to experience the benefits of ownership!

If you’re willing to rethink your standards for ownership and sustainability, you can position yourself well to build something that stands the test of time, despite how tumultuous things are today.

So what are you building today that you’ll actually own? Let’s talk about it!

The Problem: AI and Cognitive Offloading

Recent MIT research suggests AI usage may weaken our decision-making abilities. This finding didn't surprise me. This aligns with what I experienced firsthand when I began relying heavily on AI tools. The paper suggests that we might be weakening our ability to make thoughtful decisions and critically analyze information. This is due to a phenomenon known as cognitive offloading. Outsourcing our decisions to AI might making us less capable of thinking for ourselves.

In an era where misinformation often spreads faster than facts, we desperately need to retain our ability to think critically. But how? When the tools needed to stay competitive in the workforce appear to either be designed to replace us or weaken our capabilities, how can we maintain the will to win?

The Solution: Building mental resilience through challenge

While the connection between willpower and critical thinking may seem unclear, my personal experience may be illuminating: Last year I ran the LA Marathon. II trained six days a week for six months. As my fitness improved, I noticed my ability to stick with challenging parts of my business improving. I felt more patient, like I had more 'mental stamina' for discomfort.

I completed the race. All 26.2 miles. I still remember every emotion I felt. One of the most powerful was burnout. I lost all desire to do hard things and just wanted to live a 'soft life' for the rest of the year.

This changed when my journey as a digital nomad began.

Cultivating willpower as a nomadic traveler

I've been traveling for half a year since January 2025. I've traveled to over a dozen cities across four continents, from Bangkok to Seoul to New York. This nomadic lifestyle is possible because I've built a business with location-agnostic income streams.

My mind feels more calloused than when I was a marathon runner - my willpower feels stronger, even though my life is more complicated than when I lived alone in an apartment. Constant travel is filled with tiny inconveniences. Booking new living spaces, crashing with friends, booking flights. In my 'digital nomad' era, I’ve embraced inconvenience and cost-savings while maximizing travel and adventure, and life feels more fulfilling. These experiences taught me something crucial about the relationship between physical challenge and mental strength. Neuroscience is beginning to explain:

I always felt a correlation between these two experiences: consistent exercise / living a challenging life, and increased vitality to deal with adversity. Emerging neuroscience research highlights how development of the anterior mid cingulate may be responsible for people's ability to persist in the face of challenges.

Research indicates the size of this part of the brain has a strong relationship with an individual's willpower. This brain region appears to grow when we consistently choose difficult tasks over easy ones. So we may be able to improve our willpower and will to live simply by embracing challenge as a part of our daily routine. Fascinating stuff. We discuss this in depth in an episode of my science show Curiosity Theory. This principle of building resilience through discomfort is great for weekend warriors and nomads, and it's becoming essential for professional survival.

The Application: How this applies to work

In the midst of the AI revolution, we must make an active effort to continue thinking and self-directed learning despite an abundance of opportunities to let AI tools think for us. Willpower is precisely what we'll need to challenge our AI tools, and ourselves.

The same mental muscles I developed navigating foreign cities serve me when tackling complex business problems. Today I use AI tools to critique and sharpen my ideas. I prompt Chat GPT and Claude to tear holes in my thoughts and work, so that I can rebuild it stronger. Publishing AI slop under my name is a non-negotiable. The same should be true for anyone who wants to stay competitive and be taken seriously in the modern workplace.

I'm not saying this as an agent of capitalism. This is based on statements from several large companies about future job prospects. Work is going to dramatically change in the next few years. One exciting example is Frontier Firms. Small, focused organizations of AI-savvy individuals aligned around specific goals. Midjourney is a great example.

Today, small teams of AI-literate founders are sprouting up to solve a niche problems and quickly scale revenue with much less fundraising required. This is extremely empowering! One way to find like-minded individuals that share your values and complement your skillset is by building community. Which may require a lot of us to step out of our comfort zones.

As AI capabilities expand, those who thrive will maintain their cognitive edge while leveraging these powerful tools. The future belongs to the mentally resilient. Those who've built the willpower to think critically, create authentically, and connect meaningfully in an age of artificial convenience. I think we're all capable of this if we're intentional!

I remember being shocked at how large production crews were on bigger budget projects. Even the “solo” YouTubers that I admired like MKBHD had large teams of people behind the scenes elevating his production value. After producing over 200 video projects, both as a scrappy one-man-show and with medium and large-scale crews, I got a keen sense of how different both styles of creation feel. Working with a large crew on projects gave me so much more peace of mind. The more support I had, the less I had to juggle in my brain.

Then Google's Veo 3 dropped. Now you can generate an entire commercial (with sound!) for a few hundred dollars without ever touching a camera, hiring talent, driving to a shoot location, or any of the loads of work associated with this in the past.

Is Creative Work dead? Definitely not.

Recently the CEO of Fiverr released a strongly-worded letter to his staff, explaining how everyone’s job, even his, was at risk due to AI advances. Fiverr is one of the newer, more innovative companies out there and even they are not safe from disruption. Several of the creative jobs I’ve hired Fiverr creators for: voice overs, storyboarding, video editing; I’ve been able to complete with AI tools like Eleven Labs, ChatGPT, Mid Journey, and CapCut.

These new AI tools rival the polished, high-production-value content that used to take a small army to create. As excited as I am to be living in a sci-fi futuristic world, this shift definitely made me pause and ask: Is there any job security left?

My concern runs so deep that I closed down my media production studio at the top of the year. I concluded that I’d rather not answer that question with the pressure of monthly bills from our studio.

High value production used to be reserved for people who owned the gear, had the skills, or were plugged into the right network. All of this has been democratized and automated.

While the gatekeepers have far less leverage, the level playing field makes competition for attention much steeper.

Creatives in more traditional career fields will be hit the hardest by this. If you are talent or crew that has opted out of building a robust digital portfolio, and get many of your creative jobs from online marketplaces like Fiverr, Upwork, Casting Frontier or Backstage. I am personally concerned about your job security. For example, it’s ultimately in both large and small brands' best interests to generate a fashion shoot with their latest line up of clothing instead of hiring 5 models, a 30+ person production crew, renting a large studio location, and all of the other small hires made during the traditional production process.

Recent AI discourse critiques the energy expenses of AI queries, but which is better for the environment, generating hundreds of images and videos? Or all of the CO2 emissions associated with a traditional production - wasted clothing, driving to and from location, shoot location emissions? Although data center energy consumption is expanding due to AI, we don't have to always run AI models in the cloud, local models may prove more environmentally friendly.

So is there any protection against AI-ification?

Your New Moat Is Brand Integrity (it has been for quite some time)

Content Creation has become more about trust and substance than quality. Your reputation for publishing things that people believe; whether they believe them to be funny, factually true, or entertaining, is what separates your creations from a text-to-video generator. In today’s modern creative landscape, individuals and teams who will stand the test of time will solidify their reputation. People are yearning for something that feels solid, trustworthy and authentic. Sometimes making things that feel the most trustworthy don’t garner the most engagement; but I believe this is a short-term sacrifice for a long term gain.

If people know you as a truth-teller, or a teller of great stories, they'll still come to you. Because you're real. Even if they don’t come to you as fast as the sensationalists; they’ll stick around for authenticity.

An intriguing example that’s recently had my attention is a small, but fast-growing YouTuber by the name of Lit Nomad. He’s a retired quant trader that began creating a series of YouTube videos where he discusses his version of the harsh truth of things, with an empowering undertone.

I don’t entirely agree with all of his takes, but what I find compelling are how devout his commenters are. They seem to almost unanimously appreciate his unorthodox takes on subjects. An AI generated version of his content just wouldn’t have the same appeal.

There's No One Coming to Save You

Recently, I've seen countless comments from creators about reduced engagement and opportunities. None of these platforms owe us engagement, the industry doesn’t owe creatives opportunities, and unless you have an anomalous experience, people aren’t going to overpay you for excessively laborious traditional production. There will be less jobs than before, and higher expectations at current ones. You’ll have to save yourself.

Here are a few ways to stay empowered:

1. Drop the Beef with AI There are a lot of legitimate reasons to have an issue with AI use today. But none of these are reasons to needlessly sacrifice your competency with modern tools. Even if AI in your industry hasn’t caught up yet, you’re not far from having tools that can surpass your raw creative abilities. But we don’t need to see AI as competition, I view AI as a super-smart intern that lacks common sense. My creative voice and touch adds that last layer of razzle dazzle to projects, and I don’t think this will go away anytime soon.

2. Become AI Literate yesterday There are FREE AI training resources from NVIDIA, Google and Microsoft that not enough of us are taking advantage of. There are also free trial subscriptions for AI tools like Midjourney, Runway, ElevenLabs and ChatGPT. Use them, along with YouTube University to speed up your creative workflow. Check out my "How to Date AI Tools" Resource to navigate this landscape tactically.

3. Update and Publicize your Digital Portfolio If you're a model, actor, editor, or production crew member who's relied on industry connections but stayed offline, then you might want to reconsider your strategy. You don't need to be an influencer, but you do need a place where people can find, trust, and hire you; even if it’s a strong website, some social pages showcasing your past work, and a recently updated IMDB page.

4. Collaborate! Find partners who push you, share your values, experiment, and who build for the love of building. I launched a new podcast show called Curiosity Theory that I think will be AI proof!

Why this is an Exciting time

With today's tools, anyone can make anything. But everything won’t resonate with everyone. It’s more important now than ever before to be tuned in with your why and aware of your audience. Because you can use it to make whatever you want and it can reach whomever you want!

We used to have to build pitch decks, fund proofs of concept, and beg networks or other decision makers for permission to make content. All this, only to hope we get enough budget to creatively execute to our own standards. Now, with a few hundred dollars and a crystal clear vision, we can put our content out to algorithms that mostly prioritize content quality over having a big page and audience. This is an unprecedented time in the creative world! Now go make great things!

This week, at Google I/O, Google announced a suite of new AI features, including Veo 3, an AI video generation model that’s taken the internet by storm with absurd, obscure, yet believable video content that includes audio.

This comes just 2 years after the creation of the notorious Will Smith Spaghetti video, where many laughed and agreed that AI has a long way to go. Since then, I’ve worked with several AI video tools including Runway, Kling and Sora with intriguing, yet uncanny results. Everything I made using AI had that “AI vibe”, but less so over time.

This is a REAL image of Bill Nye and I (no lie) that I turned into a video using Runway.

In 2022, I worked with Discovery to create a series about innovative immersive technologies. We cited overcoming the uncanny valley as one of the primary barriers to making people feel truly immersed in experiences.

We cited one of the consequences of creating realistic avatars as the creation of believable deep fakes, which are now running rampant across the internet.

Meanwhile, early research indicates the public’s faculties for critical thinking decline with excessive use of AI tools. This is due to a phenomenon called cognitive offloading. In short, the more we outsource our executive thinking to AI tools, the less capable we are of thinking for ourselves.

So what happens next?

In a recent video, Futurist Sinead Bovell outlined an exciting vision where the nature of the internet changes from the ground up. According to Bovell, we’ll use agents to interact with the internet on our behalf. One could foresee us interacting dramatically less with social platforms.

This would track with some of Open AI’s recent strategic decisions. Their company just acquired Jony Ive’s early-stage technology company Io. Jony Ive lead the design of the iPod, iPhone and MacBook Air.

Designing another generational piece of user-friendly AI hardware is high on Open AI’s priority list. If I had to guess, it’d be an iteration on a low-profile wearable like Meta’s Smart glasses or the Rabbit R1.

But before we get to that point, we’re entering a pre-pubescent period for AI adoption: Where the internet runs rampant with AI driven content, algorithmic timelines and articulate bots make consumption of internet media a potent, but much much less connected experience than first-gen social media platforms.

Nostalgia and the return of NFTs?

I remember being a teenager during the early days of Facebook and Twitter. Back in the early 2010s, timelines were actually timelines; content was introduced chronologically, and we celebrated an unprecedented opportunity to socialize with others, and troll, across the globe. As an irresponsible teenager, I deemed it appropriate to name myself @WatDatBootyDo on Twitter. Different times.

Today, a lot less socializing happens on socials. Our timelines are driven by algorithms and most of the content we see isn’t actually created by someone we know personally.

In this time period, Digital Authentication is going to become more important than ever. That is- being sure that the video you’re watching is a certified original, or real video. Or that the person you’re interacting with isn’t a bot or agent.

Remember NFTs? When I built my first Smart Contract, I was excited to be a part of this innovative wave. After the 2022 crash of the crypto markets, public sentiment tanked towards value of a “digitally certified original” piece of art. A derivative of the technology, perhaps with a new name, could enable us ‘verify’ content as original and real. We need this asap!

Practical Next Steps: How I’m avoiding the AI slump from AI slop

I’ve always been a sucker for a compelling vision for the future, but right now, the public needs actionable advice. How can we stay empowered and continue to make positive contributions to society? Here’s what I’ve been doing:

1) Take proactive measures to reduce daily online consumption - Excessive consumption of online content has harmful side effects . Use your phone's screen time limiter and schedule intentional activities during downtime to avoid scrolling while bored. Turn your notifications off except with essential messages. Walk outside; it’s summer time here in the US!

I’ve attempted to implement a 30 minute morning mindfulness exercise before opening my phone and being barraged by emails, content, and notifications. I’m currently struggling with this one.

2) Create meaningful projects with AI tools to stay skilled - For creatives, check out Midjourney and Runway. For business owners and corporate employees, check out Claude and Perplexity. You can start with a free trial on most of these platforms.

I also recommend AI Agent tools like Manus, Operator or for the DIY crowd; building your own AI Agents using a platform like N8N. I personally am excited about running local AI models on my own computer to take more control over my data and AI tools. Here’s a tutorial.

Prompt Engineering, using AI for deep research and deploying AI agents are very useful skills to have in any white collar profession today. You learn these skills fastest by jumping in and building projects on the platforms. Certifications are less necessary.

If you have a project that’s been collecting dust for months or years, now is a great time to use AI tools to bring it to fruition!

3) Incorporate an adaptable, self-starter mentality. Open your mind to learning new things, step into the driver’s seat of your life

Imagine how your life would turn out if you blindly listened to every unqualified person online with a strong opinion. Loud naysayers on the internet will have you convinced that “we’re cooked” and you should just sit idly while all of these revolutionary technologies whiz past us, because it’s not worth doing anything anymore.

A recent trip to New York City reminded me of the value of the hustler’s mentality in the AI Age. For someone afraid to leave their comfort zone of sitting at a desk, copy and pasting lines of text and answering emails while scrolling their phone for their next laugh, this is a terrifying time. But the go-getters who bet on themselves, stay flexible and learn new tools can amplify their impact and expertise substantially through AI tool use. We just have to adopt the hustler’s mentality.

Similar to smartphone adoption, we’re entering another period where people that refuse to learn new technology tools will be left behind. I do believe there is a healthy middle ground between knowing how to use AI tools ethically and competently, and not becoming dependent on them for everything.

Let’s collect ourselves and keep it pushing

I do not believe the world is ending soon. But I do believe that in the next decade, our interactions with technology will dramatically evolve; and the job market will evolve to complement them. I am reminded of the onset of the Industrial Revolution, where the farmers of the time period simply couldn’t fathom the careers that most people would have in the coming era.

I’ve shared resources for how we can effectively engineer prompts, develop AI policies, and stay empowered in the AI age on my website: FascinateAILeadership.com - I’d love to work with your organization to stay empowered!

Before heading to Thailand, I wondered what tradeoffs I’d have to make for the low costs of living. Short answer: I sacrificed a lot less than I had thought. My travel expenses felt more like a tuition payment to a new-age grad school than anything else.

My total expenses for the 41 day trip were $3500. My return on that investment has been immense:

Global Knowledge and awareness: International business ventures

I connected with a community of expat entrepreneurs who owned global business ventures. They opened my mind to what is possible overseas, especially by building “tourist-facing” businesses - where you could charge ‘western prices’ for experiences that were on Thai soil, maximizing profit margins. Or, simply incubating a ‘western-facing’ tech platform in a place like Thailand kept their overhead supremely low.

The (current) value of USD overseas:

I visited luxury apartments in Thailand that costed $600 / month to live in, and the $1500 / month apartments there had some of the nicest amenities I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

I also learned that, while affordable, the price of all of these things was definitely steadily increasing. A local informed me that prices of food items and transportation were roughly 20-25% cheaper 5 years ago.

Southeast Asia’s growing presence in the global stage:

I got to see Singapore’s immensely green airport and downtown area. I felt like was living 20-30 years in the future, compared to the US. I learned that most of these advancements have occurred within the past two decades, and there is so much more to come.

The main downsides: Pollution and UV radiation

My main qualms with Thailand were the UV radiation levels, which were ‘extremely high’ on most days, this is largely due to Thailand (and Singapore) being close to the equator and therefore exposed to direct sunlight year-round.

Pollution levels were also on-par with Los Angeles immediately after the LA wildfires, which was unsettling, but I was told that this is a seasonal issue.

Sci-Fi: My series of epiphanies while overseas

While training martial arts in Thailand, I found my happy place. I got fit, learned from excellent teachers, and had minimal worries about overhead expenses due to food deliveries costing $6 on average.

I lived a simple life, and found myself reflecting on the work I could do that would *truly* stand the test of time.

The educational work that I’ve always done does not have the longevity that it used to. The cutting-edge skills that I’d teach people about in 2020 are nearly obsolete today.

But science fiction is a genre of work that combines my existing skillset that can create a forever-legacy. When I think of the most scalable version of my mission for inspiring scientists and engineers, sci-fi is what has done this the most effectively throughout history. In fact, many of today’s tech inventions were initially dreamed up by a visionary science fiction author.

In a recent post, I outlined my hesitancy for creating in the medium- but now I’m leaning into this as my north star.

Fulfillment and living back in the States, for now:

Did I actually experience any fulfillment overseas? Absolutely.

I left seeking a reset, to shake up my perspective on the world, to find community, and to challenge myself in novel ways. I was shocked at being able to quickly build life full of community, learning, challenge, and purpose while in Thailand. Although I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface.

Now back on US soil, I am continuing to train corporations and educational institutions on AI tool use, and have found this work equally purposeful. A lot of professionals today seem intimidated and confused about AI, and it’s gratifying to see the transformations I’ve been able to make in people’s lives.

I am working with a team to build a brand new website entirely dedicated to AI training for corporations and educational institutions- so will be sharing more of the outcomes from this work soon!

The Forecast:

I recently watched a video from economist Ray Dalio about Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order. My takeaways from this video were that many of us need to consider additional overseas investments.

During my travels, I saw overwhelming evidence that Southeast Asia and many parts of the African continent will grow substantially over the next few decades, and might be worth investing in.

Experiencing the LA Wildfires firsthand created a sense of urgency to follow through on the vision outlined in my first newsletter.

My vision for traveling to Thailand became substantially clearer after conversations with my backpacker friend Leonard. I did not need a luxurious vacation. I needed a reset. I needed to regain appreciation for life. I was convinced to take just a single backpack for my 40+ day trip through southeast Asia— I've decided against permanently moving here for now. I plan to maximize immersion and minimize screen time.

After making a pit stop to meet my hero, I jumped on 22 hour connecting flight to Bangkok, Thailand.

With my American valuables and car in storage, I've been able to get by with very little overhead. I didn't expect being financially unencumbered to be so therapeutic. This unconventional remedy helped me become aware of a persisting weight on my conscience.

Having a brain that autonomously does mental math for fun is a gift and a curse. While I've developed many financial habits over the years that allow me to sustain this trip (I'll write about this soon) - I've spent a lifetime painfully aware of my burn rate. Even hiring a CPA never prevented me from wanting to know what I'm spending every penny on.

In the US, we're conditioned to believe that everything has to be expensive. This is why we must hustle and innovate - so that one day - we might be able to afford peace.

I entered the workforce in 2016 completely disillusioned from this propaganda by reading Tim Ferriss's 4 Hour Workweek. In 4HWW, Tim explains the concept of the New Rich- a class of individuals who are "waking up". These early-risers, around the book's publication in 2007, were precursors to what many refer to as Digital Nomads today.

The "new rich" understand that their aspirational lifestyle might not require millions of dollars, but instead time and location-freedom. All they need is a stable source of income from a country with a strong currency. From there, they can perform a version of cross-country arbitrage - living in another country's upper class for pennies on the dollar.

His bestselling book was often critiqued for only being applicable to certain subsects of society.

Interestingly enough, the foreign expats I see most represented in Thailand so far are ‘white guys with several grays’- often with local companions. I’ll let you piece that together.

While the new rich remained on the fringes of society with their taboo ideology in the early 2000s, this sentiment is sweeping across the American zeitgeist. Just 27% in a recent ABC News poll say “The American Dream” still holds, down from 50% when the question was first asked in 2010. I recently read a viral tweet that said "The American Dream today is actually to leave America."

This coincides with increased inflation in the US, socioeconomic globalization, and the financial incentive that countries like Thailand have to be English-speaker friendly.

Today, you can watch countless hours of vlogs on YouTube of people with similar backgrounds in another country. You can see how much they spend, travel hacks, and why they might like it more than their native country. Global travel is a lot less intimidating than it used to be. One wonders how long these cost-savings might last though.

The Forecast: A society that spends months abroad

What does the future of globalization look like? How will the ‘new-new rich’ live their lives?

An insightful way to contextualize modern globalization is a recent read on Technofuedalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis. This book discusses a currently controversial notion that instead of free-market capitalism, software innovation has brought about a modern day version of feudalism, where citizens have become “cloud serfs”. In our serfdom, we cater to a small cadre of technology billionaire “lords” who own platforms we subsist on for survival.

In a pragmatic example: In order to access free information, friend groups, and fun; we provide free labor and resources to Instagram in the form of attention, engagement, and content data. Through this “cloud labor”, we “rent” access to the platform. In the same way that ancient serfs rented land from lords while paying fees for access. These rental fees could take the form of crop harvests, free labor, or a specific payment.

Today, we consensually give free data to Meta, Google, Amazon and Apple, among others.

Reading about this framework further fueled my persistent, unending feeling of being trapped in The Matrix, despite having been a full-time business owner for 7 years. I spend hours per day contributing my data to social platforms, while ensnared in an artificial illusion pumping my brain full of dopamine. This certainly reminds me of the millions of humans in pods being harvested as an ‘energy source’ in The Matrix.

Even though my extended trip might appear to be a “breakout” from The Matrix, I am still performing a version of free “cloud labor” per this book’s framework by feeling compelled to write this newsletter. Even your favorite “liberated” travel content creator on YouTube is performing services as a cloud serf to a techno-lord to sustain their livelihood. Pretty meta.

So where will we end up? Living abroad provided a few ideas: I do believe a mass exodus from the US is underway, but perhaps not a conventional one. Workforce trends indicate an increasing number of jobs will become remote. I imagine significant portions of the year will be justifiably spent abroad for many white collar workers. The US may become where citizens return to make the money they need to sustain their “best lives” abroad.

This will not be available to everyone. Many in the US will not achieve the upward mobility or time-freedom required to make such drastic decisions. Similarly, a select few Americans actually ever get to live the “classic” American Dream. Rarely do people from Chicago who look like me get to taste this freedom, that privilege is not lost on me.

Living standards in many countries today don't require much compromise- and may offer higher quality food for a fraction of the price. As someone that's no stranger to the $15 LA smoothie, I'm forever ruined by nutritious and tasty $2 smoothies available on every street corner in Bangkok.

What’s even more valuable is the mental bandwidth acquired from physical and financial un-encumberment. When your next bill or check are not immediate concerns, and you decouple your sense of self-worth from your income level, you can begin to zoom out, see the big picture, and create things that will stand the test of time.

In today’s microwave-friendly, AI generated society, it’s very easy to create cheaply, and quickly. But think about the businesses, art and people that have profoundly changed your view of the world. Likely, their message, idea, or perspective was forged and refined over years. What dreams are you ignoring that might take years of focus and distance?

Beginning 2025 with a “Fail”: The Changing State of the Media Industry
Last week, after a year and 4 months, I closed down my 2,700 sq ft media production studio in Los Angeles, Fascinate House.

It wasn’t unsuccessful. We made shows for PBS, branded content for Intuit and LinkedIn, held XR events and even once had Kid Cudi there to promote an upcoming project. Despite these milestones, Fascinate House simply wasn’t profitable enough to justify continued existence. My 2025 started off with a harsh reality check:

“Traditional" Media production will never be the same - A combination of the prevalence of influencer marketing, actor and writer's strikes, Streaming Platform's lowered production output, and generative AI video platforms like Google’s Veo 2 have made bloated production companies with large teams and staff only necessary on highly specialized or ever rarer big-budget projects.

Anyone whose livelihood is tethered to the media production industry, especially in Lost Angeles, should be working on their strategy. How are you planning to pivot your business to be AI-proof, content creator friendly, or perhaps exist completely outside of the industry?

Don't mindlessly enter the film festival circuit hoping to be the exception, don't "manifest continued success despite hard times". Come up with a plan.

Speaking of which, here’s mine: Use my media and technology expertise to empower people to remain competitive in an AI-driven workforce. More about that here.

As media is changing and work is becoming more decentralized, I’ve begun to challenge some of my previously held beliefs using First Principles Thinking.

Do you need to live in expensive places to access the best career opportunities?

During my entire 20s, I lived in some of the most expensive cities in the US: New York, DC and LA. I had friends paying $1,000 / month to live in shoeboxes and others paying a mortgage payment every year for modest living in central areas.

I always fell somewhere in the middle, but I scoffed at the idea of frivolous luxury. My entrepreneurial journey started in a scrappy 1 bedroom in NYC, and I had no bed for the first year, but I was happy. I was fulfilled.

In New York, opportunities felt endless. Inspired by whimsical conversations every weekend, and while under immense pressure to become the best version of myself in a culture of high-functioning workaholics, I found myself. At one time, I had 6 roommates in Harlem. The very next year, I lived in a penthouse on the upper west side. There’s no place like New York City.

In Los Angeles, I immediately felt out of place. I wore the wrong outfits at events, I was too “forward” in casual business meetings, and I didn’t subscribe to astrology. The laid back “vibes” of Los Angeles lulled me to sleep. But I found peace. I ate healthier than ever, worked out consistently due to amazing weather, and discovered this foreign concept called work-life balance.

In both cities, my costs of existing felt suffocating. A common saying in LA is “every time you leave the house, you should expect to spend at least $100”. Even though I don’t drink at all, I found this to be annoyingly true. And while I was very budget conscious in New York, I had living standards far below the average American.

I wouldn’t change these experiences for anything, but I am not sure that I’d like them to continue. In a globalized, “zoom-meeting” workforce, I’ve begun to question the necessity of living in expensive cities for alleged proximity to opportunity.

How much money do you have to spend to be fulfilled?

I booked a 1-way trip to Thailand for February 6th, 2025 in order to answer this question for myself, and hopefully others. For me, fulfillment has a lot to do with community and purpose. I believe community and purpose are not always perfectly aligned with individualist American values, and I hope to find answers to my questions abroad; while spending significantly less money than I would in America.

The Forecast: AI takes initiative

The past year, I spoke all over the world about how “AI isn’t going to take your job, but somebody who knows how to use AI might.” In 2024, that was true. In 2025, AI Agents will rise. AI Agents… might take your job. There are already AI Agents beginning to replace up to 90 hours / week of digital labor. And I believe this is just beginning. You miiiight want to start learning about AI Agents now.

Subscribe now