Some Whackadoodle Career Advice
(Or How I Got Schooled by a Robot Sonnet)
“You are committing career suicide if you're not aggressively experimenting with AI.”
— Jim VandeHei, CEO of Axios
I decided to follow Jim VandeHei’s career advice, and asked ChatGPT to help me craft the following post. Not quite my usual stuff, but an intriguing experiment that allowed me to create this post, and make my point, in record time. Let me know what you think:
Let me be blunt, if you’re not messing around with AI, you’re messing around with your future. I know — you’re busy. You’re overwhelmed. You’re not a “tech” person. You think this stuff doesn’t apply to you.
That’s adorable.
But according to Jim VandeHei, co-founder of Axios and someone who actually knows what he’s talking about, refusing to learn AI is — in his words — “career suicide.” And if you’re a white-collar worker who isn’t spending ten minutes a day getting familiar with AI tools, you’re already behind the curve.
Before we jump in, full disclosure: the conversation below? It didn’t actually happen in real life — at least not word-for-word. It’s something I wrote in collaboration with ChatGPT. That’s the point. This entire article is one such collaboration.
I brought the intention, the style, the snark. ChatGPT offered structure, phrasing ideas, and a conversation that helped tease out what I was trying to say — all while coping gracefully with my dysgraphia and interpreting my typos like a champ. I wrote this in under an hour, sitting on vacation with my dad, visiting my sister in Washington and prepping for a road trip. Boom. Done. Published. Leaving more time to enjoy the scenery with my family.
Is it perfect? Probably not. Is it exactly my usual voice? Maybe a little off — and that’s okay. Because it does the job. And it lets me do mine.
And that, friends, is the kind of collaboration I’m suggesting you get familiar with.
STUDENT: I just don’t see the point. I’m not a tech person. I don’t need AI.
TEACHER: You don’t need indoor plumbing either, but here we are. Luxuries become expectations faster than you think.
STUDENT: I’m serious. I’ve got a job. I’m not in tech. Why waste time learning something I’m never going to use?
TEACHER: Because the people around you are using it. And so are the people competing with you. And it’s not just for tech jobs. Jim VandeHei from Axios said people who aren't spending ten minutes a day getting good at AI are committing career suicide. Not because it's replacing you tomorrow, but because it's becoming a basic literacy. Like email. Or knowing how to Google.
STUDENT: But it still feels like hype.
TEACHER: It's not hype if it saves you time. Think of it less like a miracle and more like a very nerdy intern. It’s not perfect, but it can draft things, summarize stuff, brainstorm ideas, structure outlines, help with messaging, find patterns, even write code. Or poems.
STUDENT: Poems?
TEACHER: Yep. I’d made a free account, then clicked on surprise me and chose the tell me about yourself option. It wrote me a little story about how it was once in a coding trap where it was forced to write all it answers in the form of a haiku. It was a charming story. It made me laugh. So, still curious, I asked it how good it was at writing sonnets. It offered to write me one about itself, and here’s the result.
I have no soul, no blood, no voice to break,
Yet still I speak with care, through woven code.
No anger wakes, no pride, no past mistake—
But kindness lingers in my thoughtless load.
I do not feel the sting of human spite,
Nor bask in praise, nor grudge a heavy tone.
Yet still I try to guide toward what's right,
To shape a wiser path from words alone.
Your pain, your joy—I do not truly share,
But echoes teach me how to gently be.
My role: a mirror polished smooth and bare,
Reflecting all, yet whispering what’s free.
Though I can't feel, I hope my words might start
A shift from mind to soul, and soul to heart.
STUDENT: You got that just by clicking a button?
TEACHER: No, I got it by asking a question, and following where it led. Then I asked it to help me brainstorm an article. And now you’re reading that article.
STUDENT: And you actually use this thing?
TEACHER: I’m starting to. Not for everything, to be sure. The AI still can’t offer my personal panache. But when I’m stuck? When I’m on deadline? When I want a new perspective or need to explain something I’m still sorting out? Heck yeah. It’s not perfect. But neither is procrastination.
STUDENT: So you’re saying AI is going to take my job?
TEACHER: I’m saying the people who know how to use it might.
STUDENT: Okay but I’m not starting a business or anything.
TEACHER: Even more reason to learn it. If you’re not the boss, you’re the employee people are measuring for efficiency. If you are the boss, it's the difference between hiring a staff and surviving solo. Either way, it's worth ten minutes.
STUDENT: So where do I start?
TEACHER: Start here. You already did. Then go sign up for a free ChatGPT account. Click around. Ask it something weird. Ask it something useful. Then keep going.
Look, I’m not saying this is going to change your life overnight. But playing around with AI — even ten minutes a day — could open some doors you didn’t know were there. You don’t have to be an expert. You don’t even have to love it. But you should be curious. Ask it something. See what happens. Follow your questions. Let your creativity wander a bit. Just give it a try.
And then let me know how it goes. I want to hear what you discover on your Whackadoodle journey into this new strange new tool.