Episode 007 - The Disconnect Challenge

This is In Brief. Let's get to it. Hey there, and welcome back to In Brief, where we take a few minutes each week to dive into a topic that hopefully gives you a little bit of a new perspective and makes your post-military transition a little bit easier. I'm Jordana, CEO of The Recon Network. This week we're going to be talking about how to disconnect. A few weeks ago, I was talking to someone about the recent advances in AI or artificial intelligence, especially in the public realm. For those of you more familiar with the topic, you know that AI has been a large concern for many people for a really, really long time, whether that's because of the superhuman capabilities to create and expedite service and potentially snuff out certain certain jobs and workers, or because of concerns about its power to become cognizant and take over the world, turning all of humanity into Borg-like slaves. I remember as a teenager, people freaking out over McDonald's hiring robots and how AI was going to take all of our jobs, a move that now I think looking back, maybe we all wish we would have expedited a little bit more. But as we talked, my argument to this friend, an argument I later posted to LinkedIn, was that we shouldn't be all that concerned about AI. Will it make some jobs obsolete? Yeah, that's likely. It already has, but society has adapted. Of course, it may also replace the huge workforce gap in a number of positions that we've been seeing since the pandemic rolled through. And if you've ever waited for a fast food order for more than 15 minutes, you know what I'm talking about. So jobs, yes, my friend says, but what about when it replaces humanity? Because that's the big concern at this point, isn't it? That it will replace humans. Well, I got to tell you, friends, it's not going to happen. And I'll tell you why. AI can replace and replicate a lot of things, but it can't replace the things that make us truly human: connection, emotion, empathy, motivation, and purpose, as a few examples. And of course, I could be wrong. And I guess time will tell. But we are at much greater risk of losing our own humanity all on our own when we don't leverage those things that make us truly human, when we become insensitive to others' needs and feelings, when we lose motivation to the point that we go nowhere, when we lose our purpose and wander aimlessly through life shrugging off our need for meaning, and when we stop connecting with each other and the world around us. And like it or not, many of us are already in real danger when it comes to some of those things. The main threat to humanity at this point isn't AI. It's ourselves. Of course, we can push back against this tidal wave of mechanization in a number of ways. But there's one place I think that we can all start, and that's with disconnecting. And I'm not talking about unplugging from the Matrix. I'm not that cool, and I don't think I've even seen the whole movie in one sitting anyway. So I'm not even 100% sure that that was a thing. I am, however, Talking about freeing up space and reducing distraction so that we can truly embrace our humanity by reconnecting with ourself and with others. So here's your challenge for the week. Disconnect your social media for a week and replace it with walks around the block with your partner or with your kids. Unplug the television and motivate yourself to start a new hands-on project instead. Turn off your phone and go outside to listen to the birds talk to each other. Or play your favorite music at full blast and sing at the top of your lungs. There's real life out there, and it thrives far beyond the computer screen and far beyond the circuit board. But if you're missing it, then you're missing it. So if that's you, I want you to unplug for a bit and revisit what makes you unique and what makes you fully, originally, and irreplaceably human.