Is AI Leaving You Behind? | Here’s How to Keep up with AI

In this episode of the ✨ Success Redefined Podcast, we explore how to keep up with the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence without feeling overwhelmed.

With new AI updates, tools, and predictions appearing every day, it can feel almost impossible to know what really matters. This episode offers practical, grounded ways to stay informed, filter the noise, and understand how the future of AI may affect your work, business, and everyday decisions.

We also look at the growing role of generative AI, the impact of technology on productivity, and how AI productivity tools can help you work more thoughtfully rather than simply chase every new trend.

~ Bella

MS BELLA ST JOHN
Achievement & AI Strategist | Professional Artist
https://BellaStJohnInternational.com
https://ArtByBellaStJohn.com
  / msbellastjohn 

~~~ Success Redefined ~~~
PS:  No animals were harmed in the creation of this video.  Made with recycled data.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Don't you keep up with the news? I'm really trying to keep up. Some days it's hard to keep up. And yes, with AI, sometimes it feels impossible to keep up. But how to keep up effectively is what we're going to cover in this video. Around the time that ChatGPT was launched, and certainly before he became a household name, I wrote a book about the AI revolution and asked whether it might actually change what it means to be human. And since then I've worked with so many different business owners and consultants and coaches who aren't actually just interested about AI. Their challenge is attempting to figure out how to respond intelligently without getting swept away by all the pressure, but also how to keep up with AI. And that seems to be a really big issue for a lot of people. So let me begin with something that might sound a little counterintuitive. Most people, and maybe this is you, wanting to keep up with AI, are starting with the wrong question. They're often starting with, what do I need to learn next? Or how do I make sure I don't fall behind? Or what are the new tools that have just been released? And those are they're good questions and they're understandable, but they're not going to help you solve the real issue. The better question is not how do I keep up with AI in any way that you want to frame it. The better question is why do I want to keep up with AI and how does this serve me? How is this knowledge going to serve my business? That's a very different conversation. And that's what we're going to look at in this video. So welcome to Success Redefined. I'm Bella St. John, and in this episode, let's look at how to keep up with AI in a way that is practical and human-centered, because that's my focus, that's the coaching work that I do, is the human side of AI. And in a way that's genuinely useful, not exhausting, and not driven by panic. So here's the first important distinction. Keeping up with AI does not mean keeping up with everything that's happening in the world of AI. That is impossible unless, of course, you happen to be AI. AI is now in so many different areas of business and daily life that no person has the capacity to track it all in depth, let alone even superficially, and still be able to live a life and serve your clients and grow your business. So the real skill is not awareness of everything that's happening. The real skill with keeping up with AI is relevance. Knowing which developments matter to you, to your world, to your life, to your clients, to your direction for your business. And that's where most people make the first mistake. They start with the tools. They hear about something new, they sign up, they open it once or twice, and feel slightly impressed and then slightly confused, and then they move on. And after a while, they have more login, oops, more logins and more cle more logins and more subscriptions and less clarity and the anxiety is still there. And by the way, a good tip check your credit card statements for your subscriptions. You may find that there's a whole bunch of things in there that you're not using anymore. I just went through and did a cleanup with a client, and she saved hundreds every month. So that's not about keeping up. That looking at, you know, oh, what do I need to check out next? What tool do I need to check out next? That's not keeping up with AI. That's collecting noise. So let me give you something a little more useful. Step number one: start with your business. Don't start with AI itself. Before you open any tool, ask yourself what actually needs to be done, what needs to be clearer, or what do you need to do faster? What's going to be more effective for your business? The question is not where can I use AI. The better question is what would be better thinking or better communication or what do I need to do within my business that's going to improve it. Once you know what you're looking to improve, then AI has a place to serve. Then look at keeping up with that one facet. Without that clarity, AI becomes a distraction that is just you're just you're never going to get there. You might be a business owner who is thinking, oh well, I need to keep up with AI, but when actually you what your real issue is, is that you want AI tools to help you turn existing ideas into other forms of useful content for your audience. That's a very different starting point. One is vague, keep up with AI, and the other is specific and practical. So consider why do you want to keep up with AI. Step number two, think in categories, not tools. Tools change. We've already had so many come on the scene and go away, and it's it's mind-boggling. Platforms rise and they disappear. Those of us old enough to remember MySpace will know that. Features shift. What feels impressive today is ordinary in six months because some AI tools just they develop and then they just stagnate and stay there. And that's why it's more it's it's useful rather to think about AI in the terms of what can what role does it play in your work rather than attempting to memorize every platform that happens to appear, every tool. When you understand this, you you're not then dependent on any one single tool. You're no longer asking which specific platform, which specific tool should I chase now. Instead, you're asking what kind of AI support would be really useful here. That shift makes the whole conversation calmer and more real and more helpful. Step number three, consider building a weekly rhythm. Now, this is with regard to keeping up with AI, but it's also with regard to using AI because you're never going to keep up with it. Just that's just one thing. Just give that up. You're never going to keep up with AI. But to be able to keep up with AI in a way that is practical for your company, your organization, your life. So consider once a week putting this into your calendar. Same bat time, same bat channel. Now I'm really giving away my age on this video. Anyway, choose one real area of your work and asking where could AI help me think better or work more efficiently or whatever it happens to be. And it doesn't need to be a complicated system. You just need consistent rhythm. Practical confidence with using AI comes through repeated use that is directly connected to you and your own work. Watching endless tutorials can make you feel as though you are learning, but it often leaves you with very little that you can actually use and may it make you feel like you're productive. But I have a whole other video already on my channel that covers that. And downloading yet another list of prompts might also make you feel productive, yet it doesn't necessarily strengthen your judgment and doesn't necessarily help you keep up with AI. Confidence comes from using AI in a grounded way and slowly developing your own standards for what is useful and what is not useful. Step number four, develop your filter. This is the skill almost nobody talks about, and it might actually be the most important one of all. When AI gives you a response, your job is not to simply accept it and copy it and assume it's good because AI said so. Your job is to read it with discernment. Your job is to apply critical thinking. By the way, I have a whole course on that on my website if you'd like to check it out at bellsaintjohn.com. You need to notice where this is helpful, where it's generic, where it might have missed the point, or even where it's just wrong. That filter is essential. Without it, AI can quietly weaken the very skills that you need most. This is part of keeping up with AI. You might be a coach or a business owner or a consultant who, if you accept the AI output too quickly, might end up with something that doesn't sound like you or that might be just completely wrong. The content that you're outputting is going to increase with AI. There is no question about that. But whether or not it's valuable content, that's what you need to pay attention to because that's where it needs your direction and your standards and your judgment. That's part of keeping up with AI. Step five, move at the speed of intelligent integration. You don't need to move at the speed of AI the AI industry, and I would suggest there are very few of us who can. Much like the media, the AI industry benefits from the sense of urgency. Your benefit, your your business, however, benefits from clarity. Yes, moving quickly is definitely an advantage, but the AI industry benefits when you feel behind. You benefit when you apply critical thinking to the entire AI subject and then make thoughtful decisions. Then once you've done all that, one other tip is to find two or three experts to follow who genuinely provide value to your why when it comes to keeping up with AI. So, yes, keep learning, keep being mindful, stay curious, and pay attention to what is changing. And be willing to experiment, but at the same time be very careful about letting AI turn your business into a reaction machine. And be very careful of all of the hours that it can consume when you're looking at the next this AI thing and the next that AI thing. You can find more resources, both free resources and courses and coaching, etc., on my website, bellasaintjohn.com. But whatever it is that you do, please remember the future doesn't just belong to those who only move fast. It belongs to those who can think clearly while everyone around them is moving quickly, simply for the sake of moving quickly. I'm Bella St. John. This is Success Redefined. Thank you for joining me. Until next time. Bye.