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In 2022, I was hired to build out AI operations at a health-tech startupat the time, we were pioneering the use of AI in healthcare, which required abundant human oversight. Over time, new GenAI models were launching at an unprecedented pace and new iterations like GPT-4 could solve a case in 30 seconds, compared to the four months it took my team. It quickly became clear to both my employer and me that my skills were no longer needed, and there were no clear opportunities to chart a new path at my job with my current skill set. I was left with no choice but to move on. As I reignited my job search, I was keen on finding AI-proof positionsroles that wouldnt be affected by the AI revolutionbut I persisted with a traditional search. It wasnt until about five months later that I realized this approach wasnt working. Frustrated, I paused to rethink my entire strategy and questioned whether I was looking at the problem from the right angle. Then came my light-bulb moment: instead of thinking about what AI was going to do to me, I shifted my mindset to explore what it could do for me. Secret weapon AI quickly became my secret weapon. I created a custom “CareerBuddy GPT” in ChatGPT to help me with rote work like drafting a cover letter and updating my résumé to tailor to each individual job posting. Using AI cut down the time I was spending on my job search by 70 to 80% but it also saved me the headache. Anyone who is grinding on the job search knows the process can be fatiguing. I found the best use for AI, however, was using AI as a strategic partner, assessing my candidacy for roles, generating leads for my job search, and advising on the best ways to position my experience. By simply uploading my résumé or summarizing my objectives, CareerBuddy GPT identified people to reach out to, organizations to vet, and even open job listings that I may have missed. Untapped resource This resulted in landing a role at a fresh new startup, which is ironically all about perfecting the human-AI relationship. Ultimately, using AI in my job search helped me realize that collaborating with AI was my greatest untapped resource. I am currently leveraging a lot of what I self-learned to improve our organizations internal AI programidentifying where AI can fill the gaps and free up my teams for more creative opportunities. There are some revolutions so momentous that we cannot avoid them even if we want to. Unfortunately, I couldnt sustain my health-tech position as that revolution unfolded. But this situation clarified an important learning for me: the AI wave is here and there are two options: you can get pulled in by the undertow or grab a surfboard and ride the wave. Maximizing productivity AI can become your job hunter, career coach, your personal shopper, or your receptionist. It can help you save time, explore different paths, find space for creativity, and develop your own set of skills. My personal beliefalbeit cautiously optimisticis that human value is not going to vanish even if AI can replicate some of our capabilities. But what AI can do is help maximize human productivity and help humans unlock value they dont even know they have. To be clear, sharing my experience is not meant to invalidate peoples stories or deny the truth. As headlines fuel fears around AI replacing human workers, layoffs are happening more frequently. Microsoftjustlaid off 3% of its workforce(7K+ employees) in order to funnel more cash into its lofty AI goals, but the two shouldnt be mutually exclusive, and in fact, its better theyre not. We know AI is most helpful in helping complete rote work. At the same time leadership is freeing up, say, software engineers to do coding, theres demand for AI prompt engineering support where human expertise is critically needed. Companies can leverage the power of the AI-human relationship to 100x their productivity, rather than have AI replace the labor theyre letting go. This is not just one way everyonefrom the employee to the board membercan rethink the way we are approaching AI. But we can all start by dispelling our fears that AI will replace us and instead grab that surfboard and make AI our secret weapon and our key to unlocking human potential.
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In 2020, the art collective Mschf cut up a $30,0000 Damien Hirst print into pieces. Hirsts 88 colorful dots were individually sold for $480, as part of Mschf Severed Spots project that explored themes of ownership and exclusivity in the art world. Now, the Brooklyn-based group is looking to chop into a new piece, but this time its their own foam sculpture of a giant baby.Based on the biblical story of King Solomon cutting a baby in half for two grieving mothers, King Solomons Baby will quite literally be cut into pieces, with the number of deli-like slices being determined by the amount of online buyers. Ultimately, it’s a new approach to how large-scale sculptures can be observed and obtained. [Image: courtesy Mschf]Anywhere from one to 1,000 people can purchase a randomized piece of the baby, with each buyer bringing the price down as the number of baby slices go up. The first person to put in their card to buy a piece of the sculpture could receive the entirety of the 15 foot-long baby for $100,000, or pay as little as $100 for a sliver of its toe, or somewhere in betweenall with no control of the end result.[Photo: courtesy Mschf]Kevin Wiesner, chief creative officer at Mschf, says he hopes the piece gets divided into 1,000 slices, as it will complete the structural transformation of the baby and allow for more people to get a piece of it.Part of the problem with artwork and for us is that whenever we want to make a singular object, we realize that the way that you can interact with a piece like that is very limited, Wiesner says. It doesn’t translate particularly well to a mass audience and people on their phones. This [Solomans baby] is a mechanism that at least scales the experience[possibly] a thousand times. All of those people then become participants in the overall life trajectory of what this sculpture is.[Photo: courtesy Mschf]The baby isnt meant to have one singular meaning, but rather its supposed to open up discussion for what ownership and division can mean to the individual viewer and buyer. As the piece gets cut, it becomes less of a three-dimensional sculpture, and more of a two-dimensional wall ornament meant for public consumption.According to the group, this isnt a new idea, but rather a coexisting example of how we visually interpret the world around us. [Photo: courtesy Mschf]You don’t you don’t know what a thing means until a bunch of people have interacted with it, Wiesner said. I mean, you see it really in on-the-nose stuff, like the Cybertruck. We didn’t necessarily know what that car was going to mean when it was first released, and now it has a very particular cultural meaning that is entirely created by its audience.[Photo: courtesy Mschf]The experimental piece will be displayed at Pioneer Works, a nonprofit arts and cultural center in Brooklyn, New York on July 10, with a ceremonial slicing of the baby down its middle. Following the sale period, the sculpture will be performatively cut into its sold pieces, which will be viewable in-person and via livestream.The final slicings’ of King Solomons Baby will remain on view at Pioneer Works through their Second Sundays event, before each piece is shipped off to its new owner.
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Freelancing is gaining popularity today, given the instability of the full-time job market and the benefits that self-employment can offer. Nearly 58 million Americans consider themselves “independent workers. Thats 36% of employed respondents, up from 27% in 2016, according to a McKinsey survey. Despite increasing interest and the numerous perks to freelancing, it can be difficult to start. As a freelancer of 12 years, the beginning is what I call the push season. This requires a significant push to attract clients, deliver work, and set up operations. At first, there are many uncertainties. Youre reassessing your professional identity, which can bring up a lot of new feelings. Youre also responsible for taking on every function of the business, from accounting to marketing and sales. And most important of all, youve got to bring money in the door to ensure its a viable venture. Whether youre putting in more hours, effort, or energy, the goal is to establish your client base and business foundation. At the same time, you want to avoid burning out in the process. Navigating this push season intentionally can better position you for continued stability as a freelancer. Heres what worked for me and other seasoned freelancers. Attracting clients during the push season When you first get into freelancing, youre starting fresh. Yes, this is still the case even if youre leveraging some of the trust, connections, and experience youve built in previous full-time roles. Its going to take time to build up your reputation, relationships, and expertise around offering your services in a freelance capacity. The initial two to three years are often the push season, This is where youre building significant momentum around your offerings as an independent contractor. Youll mainly focus on three key areas: attracting clients, balancing your workload, and structuring your business for longevity. Bringing on clients, for example, requires you to make consistent efforts to market yourself to potential customers. This is likely going to take up a lot of time in the initial period. When I started freelancing, I sent about 20 cold email pitches a week to companies that would benefit from my writing and marketing services. I also messaged colleagues on LinkedIn. That way, they can keep me in mind for this type of support, and I regularly shared educational posts on social media. Now, some of this is about scale (like how much outreach youre doing), but most of this effort is about regularly communicating your value to the right people in the right places. I had to invest way more time and energy into finding paying work and clients. That’s a bigger time suck than people might think it is, says Kat Boogaard, a freelance writer of 11 years who sometimes worked 60-plus hour weeks during her initial push season. While I used to spend a lot of time sending cold emails and scouring freelance job boards, more of my work started to come through referrals or other inbound efforts as I got more established, she says. Landing clients takes a lot of effort up front, but it is a worthwhile investment. Once youre established and clients know you from your work, you can begin to ease up on these activities. How to balance a freelance workload Another important aspect is balancing your workload is determining how many projects you need to take on to build financial stability. At the same time, you don’t want to sacrifice quality or burn out. This will require some trial and error. As you take on a mix of tasks and different deliverables for clients, assess (and document) how long it takes you to complete them. Taking on too many assignments or a project requiring more time than expected led to many long work days in this phase of my freelancing. Limit spells of overworking by giving yourself more runway on each project. This way, you can leave room for downtime between tasks, and thoughtfully increase your pricing over time. Mimi Gonzalez is a a social impact strategist and Gen Z inclusion consultant. She’s been freelanced for close to three years, and said that this season required her to let go of certainty and structure. Systems that once felt safe no longer served her when she became a freelancer. Recognize that moving to freelance work requires a considerable mindset shift. Youre going from completing assigned tasks in a full-time role and being accountable to a boss, to designing your workload without supervision. This change may also require you to redefine what career success looks like to you. Prioritize longevity in your practice Youll also want to structure your freelance practice for the long term. Many people treat freelancing as a stopgap, which is great if thats what youre after. However, if you want to ensure that its a viable career trajectory over time, youll need to diversify. This entails finding a mix of clients, supporting multiple industries, or trialing different service offerings. Doing so allows you to gain stability and reduce reliance on any single source of income. At the same time, youre likely setting up a website, business insurance, accounting system, and the other typical building blocks of getting your freelancing in motion. The challenge here is prioritizing these tasks that will allow you to get your practice running while making long-term investments in future progress. Its a constant process, but like any season of freelancing, youll move through it. Push seasons arent one-time events. Every new level of visibility, income, and purpose brings a different kind of push and set of decisions you have to make, says Gonzalez. Gonzalez went on to say, And then there are calmer seasons, when your work carries its own momentum and opportunities arrive because people already believe in what youve built. That first push season will always stay with me, though. It required urgency to build visibility and momentum quickly.
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