🧠 Weekly Reflections #3: AI Takeover?

Hey Everyone –

Welcome to the 3rd edition of the Weekly Reflections (WF) Newsletter! I'll be honest: It should be no surprise we are going into the 3RD EDITION OF THE WF NEWSLETTER (🎉🎉), yet I still carry a degree of surprise that this is actually working out. I will say that creative projects hit hard when you are going through a period of trial and error and feeling like you are not going to find any creative direction in the dip but are 10x more rewarding when something like WF comes out of it. So I’m coming into the newsletter with a spirit of thankfulness today.

That being said, let's get into it! 🫡

💎 Reflections from the Journal:

• I had some thought-provoking convos w/ a seasoned UX/UI designer and upcoming entrepreneurs this week. Here are the takeaways:

↳ You can only innovate and grow at the rate of cross-pollination. There are reasons why those who choose to surround themselves and learn from people focusing on different arenas of life find the most breakthrough in their own creativity. (Also, on a semi-related note, here's a fascinating opinion piece from the FT on why science is losing its ability to disrupt)

↳ Every time you read a novel, watch a movie, or branch into your philosophical self, you start to find new perspectives on things that make you feel stuck.

↳ Always look for the simple answer. It's counter-intuitive but pays huge dividends in the long run. There's also this principle called Occam's razor which is widely used by other designers and offers amazing insight into how this works. There's an art to deconstructing design to its bare essentials, and that applies to any area of life, really.

• If you want to become better at giving productive feedback and entering a conversation to reach a solution, consider using the QWIPS framework: Question, Wait, I-Statements (starting feedback off with I am confused about, I am wondering...), Praise, and Say-back for clarity.
• You become better at the art of storytelling whenever you start by naming the problem you are solving in your content. (SPI 655: How to Build Stories Stories That Sell Big w/ Dr. J. J. Peterson - 42:30)
• It's crazy to think that there could be a day when people could advocate for the rights of free speech for AI. I was listening to this podcast on AI from Battle Ready (timestamp: 27:33), and it covered an article based on an NYT Journalist's conversation with Bing's new AI Chatbot (Spoiler: The bot caught feels), and it made me look at it from both a scientific and apocalyptic perspective. I'm trying to lean into the former more 😅.

↳ I would love to hear what you guys think of this rapidly evolving Chat-Based AI field. Feeling scared? Excited? Curious? All of the above? Feel free to respond to the email w/ your thoughts.

• I had an interview with an employer interviewing ~ 20 other people this week and was later told by him that it was the best conversation he had had all day. Would not have done it without the insight I got from a friend of mine who had some wisdom to share on making that happen:

↳ Give genuine appreciation or what the employee gives you advice for

↳ Be specific about your compliment to their insights

↳ Communicate how to apply those insights in your side hustles, life, etc.

🤔 Weekly random moment:

• I bumped into this pothole near campus that just said the word communication over it and thought: "If you don't learn to communicate, your life might as well go down the sewer." 💡

🤗 Story of the week:

• A story for those feeling overwhelmed today! 🫶

That's all I got for today. Love you guys, and see you next week!

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