One recent evening as I was doing research for new stories for the channel I kept seeing videos for “ChatGPT” pop up in my feed.  So I decided to ask it … 

How can I live a more purposeful life?

For those not in the know, ChatGPT is an AI that answers questions and chats with you almost like a human.  In truth, it’s kinda scary.  

Anyway, I wanted some ideas and thought I’d give our future Robot Overlords a chance to guide me.  “Can Technology HELP With Slow Living?”, I typed in.

There are several ways that AI can help with the concept of slow living:

Personalization: AI can be used to personalize experiences and recommendations based on a user’s preferences and behavior, allowing them to focus on what is most important to them.

OK, that sounds like a grand start.  Allow technology to give us more time to pursue the aspects of life we desire.  What else … ?

Automation: AI can be used to automate repetitive tasks and free up time for more meaningful activities.

Mindfulness: AI can be used to create personalized meditation and mindfulness programs, helping users to reduce stress and focus on the present moment.

Sounds pretty textbook, but it also sounds like this non-human understands what I’m asking.  More please …

In general, AI can be used to eliminate repetitive tasks in your life, allowing you to focus on profitable and growth-oriented activities.

And there it was.  The wrong answer.

AI is “trained” using current datasets about whatever aspect of knowledge it needs to understand.  ChatGPT was learning using data about what Americans find important in life and apparently “hustle culture and the pursuit of things plus money” was strong in its lesson plan.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that money is nice.  I like to eat well and sleep with something over my head … preferably in air conditioned comfort. But devoting ones life to the pursuit of ever larger piles of Scrooge McDuck coinage?  We’ve gone a little far astray here, haven’t we?

But I digress.

I also asked the chatbot to create an outline of an e-course on slow living.  And dutifully it returned a dozen chapters, again all with the flavor of using mindfulness to allow for more time for the pursuit of hustle.  

It was telling me how to be productive, not more mindful.

I don’t blame the AI, it’s merely reflecting back what it learned from “Watching Us”.  And to me that’s the truly scary part.  (Not the watching, but what it sees that we apparently don’t).

World: Hey US, what’s your favorite color?
US: Green!
World: As in trees, plants, & forests?
US: No, as in money!

Some history before we continue. It wasn’t that long ago that I was firmly in the “more more more” camp.  I thought that if I had enough decimal places in my net worth I would finally be content.  I thought that if I was surrounded by like-minded people … folks with wealth and power … that I would finally hit the jackpot.  

I was wrong.

I indeed managed to become worth seven figures.  I frequently ate dinner and attended parties with governors, congressmen, and those who had their names emblazoned on large buildings. This son-of-a-blue-collar working man had finally made it!

And I was more miserable than ever.

I won’t bore you with the rest of the details of my life up until 2013 but the short version is I started to see that there was more than one path, and that the goal in life wasn’t to just trample the one that everyone else was trampling.  Life was meant to find your own way.

And here’s the sad part … it took another TEN YEARS before I actually understood what that meant.  

(And yes, if you’re doing the math that takes us to today.)

There is a fine line that I’m going to be walking on because if I start preaching the Good Word Of Mindful Living to you, then that means I’m also telling you that there is a better main path that all of humanity needs to be on.  And how is that different from what’s happening now?  Putting everyone in the same direction, only east instead of west?

So as far as the YouTube channel, Patreon, and the rest of my electronic offerings … I can only speak about me personally.  Share my learnings and tell my tales.  Allow you to take whatever you take from it.

I like technology.  I’m typing this message to you on my Macbook, a device that I’m attached to more than I probably should be.  I’m a software engineer by trade, one of those people who make this stuff work.  And I naturally like a fast-paced, caffeinated lifestyle.

So why have I changed the banner on my YouTube channel to “Slow The #%&*! Down“?  

Because I’m not talking about speed, per se.  Rather I’m talking about dialing back the hustle.

Unless you’re a “YouTuber” you probably have very little idea just how much hustle goes into this.  In order to be successful (and yea, it’s all about the pursuit of subscribers, hours your viewers watch, and a ton of other metrics) you have to make this a full-time-plus-overtime job.  Stories, scripts, filming, editing, growth strategies, marketing, lather, rinse, repeat.  And it’s a long, long road.

So for the past ten years I’ve dutifully switched my pursuit of wealth for the pursuit of other things.  And for the past three, I’ve targeted fame.  

Guess who still isn’t all that happy?

Do I want “success”?  A hundred thousand subscribers waiting every week for another glorious video from yours truly?  Yep, I sure do.  Am I opening up my YouTube Studio app every two hours to check metrics so I can keep the boat in the fast part of the channel?

Nope, I’m stopping that.

I’m tired of hustle culture.  Tired of single-minded stress.  I look back at the very first stop on our Around-The-World-Extravaganza we started last year and I now realize that the answer was right there in my face … and I ignored it.

That first location was Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica.  A place that takes “slow down” to all new heights.  The roads (all 1/4 mile of them) were mostly unpaved and no one was moving fast.  The beaches and nature were pristine and beautiful.  And the only thing I could think of then was “How in the world am I going to make multiple exciting videos of this place?  It’s too slow!”.

Anyway, I’m guessing you get what I missed.  🙂

So, back to the Jetsons.  Remember that old cartoon?  How the “space age” was going to bring us automation, robots, and flying cars?  All so we could pursue happiness?  And yet George Jetson worked for a greedy idiot at Spacely Sprokets, fought endless traffic, and was generally just a reflection of us in that flying car.

Well, the “space age” is now officially here.  AI and automation technology are going to allow us the opportunity to finally pursue what’s important to us.  Will that be greenbacks?  For some, sure.  Perhaps even for the many.  But for me I want to climb pyramids.  Take all of this new time and eat unusual foods and learn about new cultures.  And I want to learn about myself.  Take the time to embrace what’s in front of me and not just rush to the next big thing.

Am I going to “Slow The #%&*! Down”?  You betcha … perhaps just not in the way that AI chatbot was thinking I’m going to.