This Moment In AI Is Not A Threat

1 Tip (For Growing Online)

"I'm not gonna lie. As a designer, AI makes me nervous," my good friend admitted over lunch this week.

My response? "It should."

Not because "robots" are about to take over her job. But because we're witnessing a huge change in technology—possibly the biggest in our lifetime.

This change is going to drastically alter how most of us live our daily lives, taking care of both simple and complex tasks.

I grew up in the suburb of Burlington, Ontario, Canada. It's about 35 minutes from Toronto.

When we were young, my older sister, Natti, and I would dream about a time when we would see each other while talking on the phone.

As time went on, this type of dreaming faded. I started to echo the caution and skepticism around me, saying things like:

• "Why text when you can just call me?"

• "You're ordering a car online? Really??"

• "I don't know why anyone would care about a picture of my lunch."

Looking back, these statements seem ridiculous.

Technology kept moving forward, no matter if I liked it or not.

And it still does.

Getting better, at compounding rates. (source)

We all know people who refuse to adapt and change.

In my family, it’s our good friend, Grandpa Red.

Despite trying for years, Grandpa Red refuses to get a smartphone. Even though we want him to connect with Bray and Banks more often, he’s not interested.

Hard to believe, right?

Well, if you stop learning about technology now, your younger family members might start saying the same about you when you’re Grandpa Red’s age.

The choice is yours.

Will it be…

"Nana Kristina still won't use a VR headset. She misses seeing Tangerine and Armchair every week, but she’s not interested."

Or will it be...

"Nana Kristina visits us every Saturday for a VR chat with the kids. She's got amazing 12G internet at her hut in Costa Rica."

If you stop learning now, you’re choosing the first option.

I spent 18 years living in that small town just outside of Toronto.

Moving to the “big city” changed a lot for me. I experienced new things and my interests expanded.

I started to see technology as a superpower, not a kryptonite.

Even though my go-to phrase is, “I'm not technical, but I'm tech-aware”, I've created apps, websites, and even a tech company.

Adopting a growth mindset around tech has helped me be my own:

• Project manager with Monday.com

• Graphic designer with Canva.com

• Web developer with Wix.com

AI and Machine Learning are way more powerful than all of these, combined.

Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT alone has helped me be my own: writer, editor, social media director, and production team.

It’s my competitive advantage.

And it can be yours, too.

So, as you head into this week, take this 1 tip with you…

Just because over 1,000 AI tools were released in March 2023, doesn't mean you’re “too late”.

Because none of these AI tools can do a better job of being you than you can.

Thinking critically, using personal experiences, connecting the dots - these are your strengths, not AI’s.

So, before everyone else realizes how powerful this is, grab this chance.

• Lean into it

• Learn through the discomfort

• Keep working on what makes you unique

I promise, you won’t regret it.

2 Tools (Yay, Efficiency!)

Our content creation philosophy at INTENTIONAL. is three-fold:

1. keep it simple

2. post consistently

3. maximize efficiency + output w/ tech

These things are a must if our small team is going to deliver high-quality results for our clients.

So, here are two of my favourites tech tools this week:

1) Looka: an AI-powered platform to design a logo and build a brand you love. The visual aspects of it, at least. The user experience is slick and easy, allowing you to build something completely suggested by AI, or start there and customize the crap out of it from there.

• How we use it: I recently started exploring it for my own personal website. It still requires some fiddling around to get to my desired outcome, but wow is it better than the alternative. Especially in these early stages of building while I expanding my personal brand.

• Costs: Brand Kit Subscription ($96/annually), Kit + AI-Generated Website ($192/annually)

2) Adobe Firefly (Beta): a free tool for AI image generation including Adobe’s newly launched “generative fill” feature.

• How we use it: As content creators, a great headshot is important. People buy from people, after all (unless you’re in Web3, apparently). Firefly takes away the headache of finding a photographer, the time to shoot, and the funds to pay for it all.

• Costs: FREE to use with no trial period. For now.

Note: these are not sponsored or affiliate recommendations. Just tech we use and like.

3 Tweets (With Gems From Me & Others)

Here are some of my favourite tweets from this past week:

1) Lara Acosta: reminding you to focus on the things you can control and nothing more, here.

2) Jonah Blake: reminding you to mix it up, here. Templates are great until everyone starts using them. Mix up your content by adding some videos, audio, and graphics.

3) ME: reminding you it’s queer Christmas this month, here. Happy Pride!!

That’s all good people!

Keep pushing this week and remember…you got this 💪 

We’ll see you next Sunday,

kristina, with a “k”

P.S.

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

#1: Prefer Social? Follow on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram or Tik Tok for even more tips and tools to build your badass brand online.

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#3: Specific Questions: respond to this email with them so I can share the answers in future editions! I personally read every single response.

P.P.S

• I’m Canadian. There will be extra “u”s, double “l”s, and more. This is not a mistake. It’s willful.

• I’m Queer. A mother, a wife, and an advocate for equity of all people, not just Queer folks. Openly, and without filter, sharing the journey of building my personal brands means being authentically me.

• I’m living with mental illness. I’ve been in psychiatric care for depression since I was 12 (I’m now 39). My experiences with anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia, panic attacks, and ADHD shape my perspective.

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