What an interesting world we’re living in right now.  The words turmoil, uncertainty, frustration, confusion, anger and disruption all seem to come to the forefront of conversation amongst family, friends, colleagues and peers.  As divided as the world may seem, we manage to be speaking a common language.  I won’t proclaim to know the answers and solutions to such complex problems, but I am nevertheless attempting to make an effort at holding true to my values.  I am comforted by the fact that the people I am surrounded by seem to be striving for the same.

By no means do I enjoy spending time in the apocalyptic mindset that AI is going to wipe out humanity, but at the same time I cannot ignore or deny it’s immense impact on my day to day.  From social media to search engines, to automobiles and advertisements, the presence of AI is growing within the classroom, the workplace, the home and our everyday lives.  As someone who is immersed in a life of project management and continuous improvement, I come face to face with new tools and products leveraging artificial intelligence every day.  At times they are useful, at others they are scary.  Having attended a handful of conferences and being ever more exposed to the top level expectation of AI, no one seems to be hiding the fact that the goal of bringing these tools into the workplace is to reduce headcount and increase profit.  We’re at a point in our corporate culture where we don’t need to backfill maternity/paternity leaves, or replace those who have entered retirement with another warm body – we are in active pursuit of replacing humans with programs. Those who resist are labeled ‘left behind,’ while those who embrace the tools may ultimately automate themselves away.  There are fewer and fewer humans in the loop, while more and more dollars go into the investors bank account.  Apocalyptic thinking?  I’m trying not to go there, but I do wonder how this chapter of the common workplace will end?

With all that doom and gloom, it has become increasingly apparent to me that my values are rooted somewhere other than where things are headed, at least within the orbit I know.  Do I use AI?  Sure, as a tool I have appreciated it and won’t deny its effectiveness, but as with most things, the more I use and become familiar with it, the more I learn, understand, and practice caution.  With so much of what I’ve seen so far, my trust has eroded in the general intention to do good with what’s been created.  Scams have increased, impacting even people I know to be savvy with such suspicious attempts.  Its use in entertainment has brought ethics into question, having gone so far that a rather famous deceased actor is starring in a movie next year as a young version of himself.  Whether or not permission was granted by their estate, this type of afterlife is definitely not what would I personally hope for.  We’re entering a very strange era of what it means to be alive, and that’s assuming the Earth and it’s environments will sustain our mistreatment.

Technological opinions and views aside, my values can also be separated by time – where we spend it and how we treat it.  Just last night I was attending my daughter’s first soccer game of the year.  Now, I’ve both seen and received many a recent video clip, podcast, and book, as well as attended my fair share of learning sessions regarding leadership and how to become the model citizen of the workforce. Some of these learnings have good messages and take aways surrounding the treatment and compassion for your peers, while many others fly in the face of what it means to share space with humans in the world.  “Move faster not smarter – we (re: others) can deal with the fallout later”, or how about the notion that your kids dance recitals, plays, or sporting events are not going to bring value – they are fleeting and inconsequential to the advancement of personal worth?  It’s perfectly ok to feel that way, I’m not here to judge the values of others; but I am beginning to question the handling and treatment of my own.

As I sat there on the pitch of my daughter’s first game, my eyes glued to my screen as I typed up emails and replied to messages well after hours, I felt what I can only akin to ‘numb’.  It wasn’t until my daughter tapped me on the shoulder, in tears and shaking because of what had just happened.  The problem is, I couldn’t tell you whatever that event was.  In the midst of advancing my personal worth, I failed to observe and equip myself with the ability to properly console my kin.  While the moment was not a celebratory one, it could just as easily have been her first goal, a fantastic pass, or some otherwise epic ‘bend it like Beckham’ moment that I would have had the opportunity to share with her, but didn’t.  Between the email and the moment, which one was fleeting?

I won’t get the chance to observe every event that takes place in the lives of my children and others I love.  I do have responsibilities to ‘pay the bills’, as it were, and I don’t intend on skirting them, but that shouldn’t suggest a harmony can’t exist.  I will finish my work, I will do it well, but I will not burn myself out in favour of some place where I will not be remembered and at the cost of regret.  There is some research out there to suggest that 90% of the time you have with your kids takes place in the first 18 years of their lives.  Taking a moment to let that sink I and I have no doubt as to where my true values lie.  My kids will remember when I’m gone, any establishment I’ve worked for will move on within a day.  Not to mention that money, cars, buildings or possessions don’t carry memory – all the zeroes in the world can’t make up for that 90% of time I get in these first precious years of life.

I am grateful for my job, I am overall grateful for the age in which we live and where we do it,  and I am grateful for opportunities I have been awarded.  I care about and am deliberate in the work that I do. My statements do not eliminate such gratitude, but I won’t deny myself the permission to not align with certain views, directions or assignments.  I just hope I can instil in my children a set of values that lets them know they are loved, and there is much to be loved, as long as we can preserve what makes us human.