I Left Tech to Get Away From This
I've honestly been feeling so disheartened. That sense of, "What is the point of all of this?"
I don't mean this in a deep-down depression kind of way, but in the way that you look at all of the options and it all kind of feels like a crapshoot.
I want to make a difference and have an impact, but I honestly wonder if any of the ways I am approaching it matter.
I wanted to make a difference and have an impact in tech, but the higher I climbed the corporate ladder, the more evident it became that leaders weren't looking for a new or better way; they were looking for you to lead in their way, their framework, and their vision for how things are done.
Every leader says they want efficiency, but when you try to introduce efficiency, they balk because it means challenging their thinking and the way they have always done things.
They like AI because they think it will create efficiency within their pre-set frameworks.
The problem is, you need people who think differently, creatively, and have a deep understanding of the company's offers to guide AI to produce the best results.
You can't point someone whose role has been to copy, paste, push a button at an AI tool, and think you're going to get incredible messaging, campaigns, and content.
People need to have depth, curiosity, and a desire to excel at their craft. I'm not sure I really saw a lot of that by the time I left my tech career. In fact, I was essentially discouraged from seeking depth, nuance, and trends in favor of fast work.
Just let AI do it.
It felt like a breath of fresh air to walk away from all of that. To put myself on platforms like Substack and Threads, where, at the time, I thought my depth, curiosity, interest in nuance, varied perspectives, and ability to read the undercurrents would be celebrated.
I think it's still possible, at least on Substack, but what I've noticed is honestly more of the same shit I saw working in tech.
You have pockets of people who are genuinely interested in sharing their thoughts, having meaningful conversations, going deep, and creating from the heart. Who want to share their knowledge, expertise, gifts, life stories, and dreams.
Mostly, both platforms have become overrun with people using AI badly – see my point above – and pseudo-marketing bullshit about how to grow a Substack fast, make money on Threads, and essentially copy-paste notes about living a soft girl life or basically just going back to being a normal human who isn't completely obsessed with doomscrolling and being a troll on the internet.
I'm not really anti any of those things, by the way. Well, except the internet trolls. The soft girl life is fine. Wanting to be a damn human is the whole point. What I'm anti is the copy-paste – the same handful of notes reworded by people who aren't actually thinking.
I don't want to just sit in the disheartened part, though. So here's what I actually want.
We need talented marketing professionals teaching people who don't have marketing chops – I just wish that 90% of the courses and content weren't the same tactics we were using back in 2012.
We need people to share their dream for the life they want to live out loud because it helps them manifest it, and because it shows someone else who just wants to be a damn human that it's ok to want to be a damn human.
But we also need people to stop giving a fuck about an em dash or a sparkle emoji, specifically the people who write and use them. Whether or not you use AI is your own business.
We need people to remember that an AI tool is only as good as the inputs, which means it's only as good as the original thought you share.
We need people to actually just be in conversation in the comments, not posting some AI response that comes off as equal parts condescending and salesy.
We need people to be themselves.
To share their actual, original ideas, thoughts, and experiences.
Not everything has to be fast. Not everything has to be soft.
We need people to stop caring about how others will receive their offerings and just make the damn offerings.
The reality is, AI isn't going anywhere. I'm not saying this means you have to use it or even like it. I worked in tech long enough – first with companies focused on machine learning, then companies at the forefront of AI – to know that much.
But if you're going to use AI in your work, start with your brain and original ideas first.
You are your own authority.
The AI is the sidekick. It doesn't know better than you. It doesn't even get things right most of the time. It is specifically designed to keep you hooked by keeping you happy with it.
So keep learning, keep asking questions, keep sharing your original ideas, keep dreaming, and keep going.
All isn't lost, but we need people to wake up from the AI- and algorithmically induced fog we've all been living in, so we can come back to a more humane reality.
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