Driven by AI, we are on the brink of a transformational shift that will disrupt and shape both traditional and remote work. In this episode, Dr. Brian Arnold, Professor in the Sanford College of Education at National University, and chair of Global Innovation, Social-Emotional Learning, and Educational Technology, is joined by Benjamin Schleider, author of The Millennial's AI Guide to Remote Work: Travel Anywhere and Join the Workforce of The Future, to discuss the use of AI to enhance remote work.
Driven by AI, we are on the brink of a transformational shift that will disrupt and shape both traditional and remote work. In this episode, Dr. Brian Arnold, Professor in the Sanford College of Education at National University, and chair of Global Innovation, Social-Emotional Learning, and Educational Technology, is joined by Benjamin Schleider, author of The Millennial's AI Guide to Remote Work: Travel Anywhere and Join the Workforce of The Future, to discuss the use of AI to enhance remote work.
Dr. Brian Arnold
0:02
Welcome to the Center for Advancement of virtual organizations podcast. How AI is shaping the future of remote work. I'm Brian Arnold professor in National University Stanford College of Education and chair of the global innovation, social emotional learning and educational technology department. Today I'm also joined by Benjamin s author, perhaps co author of the millennials AI guide to technology, the handbook of the future today, our discussion will focus on using AI to enhance remote work. Welcome, Benjamin. And thanks so much for taking the time to come and chat.
Benjamin Schleider
0:37
Thanks for having me.
Dr. Brian Arnold
0:39
So, may I call you Ben?
Benjamin Schleider
0:42
Ben works great. Yeah, thank you.
Dr. Brian Arnold
0:45
It looks like we both spent at least four years in Minnesota and earned a master's degree from USC. So basically, we're twins from possibly different generations.
Benjamin Schleider
0:55
Oh, no, I didn't know you went to USC. Yeah, I grew up in Minnesota. And yeah, I have a master's from University of Southern California. Go Trojans, and Go Gophers.
Dr. Brian Arnold
1:05
Awesome. I went the other way. I went got my Master's at USC then spent four years in Minnesota. So there we go. And I assume since you wrote the book that way, you're a millennial.
Benjamin Schleider
1:16
I'm a millennial. Yeah, like right smack dab in the middle of 1990.
Dr. Brian Arnold
1:20
Nice. Okay, so that's what I just after I graduated high school. So I'm Gen X. So I'm looking at from a slightly different perspective, I'm looking forward to incorporating both perspectives into our discussion. So I wanted to add the caveat, we talked about this a little bit before the podcast, I've worked remotely since 2007. So I'm very much looking forward to learning more about how AI and remote work together to get us started, can you please tell us a little bit about yourself, and your experiences working remotely,
Benjamin Schleider
1:51
pretty much ever since I graduated college, I've been working remotely in one form or another. So I started out as a freelance media production, I was a drone pilot. And so you know, there was some in person where I'd have to go in and, you know, make some drone videos, but then all the editing and was was all done remotely. And so that was kind of like a, you know, beginning of my my career. And so now I'm fully remote, I work out of a we work and I have a global subscription. And so currently, I am in Europe at the moment. And so I'm traveling, you know, to kind of various cities throughout throughout Europe, I was in Asia a little bit as well, all working remotely. And currently, I work for a geospatial AI startup. And so it's the kind of the wave of the future, if you if you don't have to go into an office, it's nice to be able to kind of have freedom of location and be able to interact with with different cultures all while getting your work done. And so I'm also able to kind of play the time zones to my benefit. So being able to get work, you know, done on time, as in like 7am, to to a client or to a boss. It's really nice. And it's really like 2pm where I am. So there's a lot of different benefits to work in remote.
Dr. Brian Arnold
3:21
Nice. And I've seen the time zones, play to people's benefits, and also cut the other way where everyone wants to know if you can come to a meeting that happens to be you know, 4am your time.
Benjamin Schleider
3:32
That's definitely happened before Yeah, it's, you know, usually not not a big problem, get a tall, cappuccino and ready to go.
Dr. Brian Arnold
3:40
There you go. So online requires a little bit more coffee, maybe it sounds like you have some very authentic, I'm going to keep using that word examples of why you work remote, how you're leveraging that, how you're working with the AI, like this isn't just putting a hat on a hat or rubbing some internet on it. There's definitely good reasons for doing what you're doing. And you're applying it in really interesting ways. So, in that, in that vein, your book is an authentic example of how AI can shape the future of remote work. Can you tell a little story about how that project came to life and how it's going now?
Benjamin Schleider
4:17
Yeah, so it it started really during COVID Kind of, you know, spring of 2022. So COVID was kind of waning and open aI had kind of just released, I've been using open AI for almost two years, probably close to a little over 18 months. And so I was a beta customer with with them. And so it it kind of blew me away how, you know, you type a few things in it. autocompletes this was even before chat GPT came out. This was like a predecessor to it.
Dr. Brian Arnold
4:52
I was gonna say that this is before November 2022 When it sort of went consumer to everybody Have you been there before?
Benjamin Schleider
5:01
I was using it? Uh, I think, yes. September 2021 was when I started using it something around there. And so version of your hipster credits are established years. Before exactly. You gotta OpenAI street cred. And so no, they, so I was a beta customer with them. And so I kind of was testing out some of their various API's application programming interfaces. And so I was testing, testing a few of them out. And so, you know, one day I was, like, you know, what, I have probably 100 pages written, and that the AI and I kind of collaborated on and so that was kind of like the beginning, like, you know, what, I could probably just turn this into a book. And so then the first one came out, it took me probably a week to, or maybe 10 days to write the first draft. So the first one is technology book. And so
Dr. Brian Arnold
6:02
in conjunction with the AI, virtual assistant, as it were,
Benjamin Schleider
6:06
basically, yeah, exactly. And so, you know, then I went through, edited the book together, made a made a cover, and then publish it on Amazon. And then I was like, you know, what I should, I should do it. Another one, I wrote the remote workbook that I think I did that and let it was less than a week to write the first draft, you know, I got stock images from free online, and, and then, you know, kind of stitch it all together.
And, you know, it's kind of like, having a autonomous car drive you across the country, you're kind of, if you've ever driven a Tesla, you're kind of like, pulling the steering wheel, let it know that you're there. And, and then it does, you know, most of the work. And so, so, yeah, and so basically, taking the, the idea of remote work, you know, you've been cooped up for however long, two years. And, and so I'm like, you know, what, there's, there's a whole world to go explore. And I, I just thought it was a, you know, highly beneficial to go check things out, learn new cultures, maybe learn a new language. And, and so it's kind of like a felt like, a note to myself saying, Go check things out, and then inspire others to go, go do it. Because it's so possible, you know, all you need is an internet connection and a computer.
Dr. Brian Arnold
7:38
Excellent. And I love the theme that sort of emerging of not only are you leveraging the the affordances of this technology, but you're using it to free yourself up from what could be deemed drudgery and focus on the good bits of what you want to do, and use it to free up your time. So that you can you can move around and use that remote access to keep your keep your body portable, and your mind where it wants to be. So that is amazing. Would you do it again? Would you write another one that way?
Benjamin Schleider
8:09
Yeah, so I've actually I've written five this way. And I have, I have two more books that are kind of ready to, it would take me a few days to edit them together. And I'm, I'm kind of, I don't think I do another one in, you know, that short of time, I want to make sure I pull like, basically go through for maybe three months and really kind of fine tune in, if you will, but And so, yeah, I mean, I plan on releasing, you know, at least two per year. It may be more, I mean, the with the the current models GPT for it's, I mean, you could produce a full book in probably a day if you really, if you really worked at it. So you know, I think everyone should produce a book. It makes a lot of sense. I mean, I think that in the near future if you're going to say say you have a you rent out your apartment and you want to go on a vacation say it's just like a road trip cross country you'll you'll make your own book you'll listen you'll have an AI read the book to you and you'll go across country you so you basically just published the book, you have a I read it to you and and then you end up in a new location your apartments being paid for via Airbnb and you're on a beach bungalow, doing your do your work.
Dr. Brian Arnold
9:44
That sounds great. And I was going to ask you, Who do you think should take advantage of this and it sounds like it. It's it's ready for everybody? Which is amazing. So you're sort of already answered this question, but let me ask it in slightly different way. What do you see as some of the low hanging fruit for most of us to partner with AI other than writing a book on vacation to boost productivity, let's say we're still doing our regular job. So boosting productivity, freeing ourselves up freeing our time up, freeing ourselves from some of the the tedious or the mundane, but still retaining a sense of meaningful work satisfaction.
Benjamin Schleider
10:23
Yeah, there are so many opportunities. You know, chat, GBT is kind of the tip of the iceberg, I think. And, you know, it's really exciting the way that this is kind of unfolding currently. So you know, one way to think of this is, you have a person with, say, 110, IQ, and you partner with the AI the has 140 150 IQ. And so you know, that makes that pulls you up to become smarter. You know, everyone has a smartphone, which has access to the internet, which has access to a supercomputer with that's running AI algorithm, which is, chat GPT. And so that's, that's really, really exciting you and you can program that to do kind of whatever you can think of.
So, you know, something that everyone's really excited about is the ability to have the digital assistant, you know, a super intelligent digital assistant that knows. So like a good example, would be going through some of your, you'd have to obviously allow to do this, but go through your emails, and it could take on your own persona and say, Hey, I know that you interact with client, a, like this, your he or she just messaged you, here's two, or two or three versions of how you might answer this, then you just click Send, basically, and then, or auto scheduling. So like auto scheduling is something really exciting. I started playing around with an auto scheduler for probably around 2017. And so it would effectively look look at your schedule. And then it would automatically follow up with the person you're you're speaking with two or three times, and then it would, it would sink.
And so you like imagine how much time you spend following up with a customer or your boss or, you know, whoever it is, even if it's your significant other going to figure out when to go on a date. But, you know, figuring out time in your schedule, having an AI do that, which is really just kind of mundane, everyday type of tasks. It saves a ton of time. And then also things like zoom meetings. So like if you're, if you have an AI auto summarize, a two hour, you know, quarter quarter meeting, or even just a 30 minute meeting, it can auto summarize and then tell you the main things that are relevant to you.
It can even tell you like sentiment of of each of the team members, do they are they confident in what they're doing? Did they need help with certain tasks. And then again, that's kind of where you're partnering with the AI that has like 140 150 IQ, which is it's it's really exciting. There's a ton of different ways for enhancing productivity, facilitating communication. And really the goal is to improve decision making. So I think there's, it's really the tip of the iceberg here. It's like, it's like we just discovered electricity or fire.
Dr. Brian Arnold
13:40
Love all of that. So as you as you were painting this picture of this fantastic today, the science fiction writer in me started creeping forward a little bit. So you're an early adopter, and you're seeing some massive gains and efficiencies and advantages in using this technology now. So let's imagine it's a few years in the future and the world has caught up and they're savvy to all of these things and expectations are higher. Do you think that leveraging these tools will always put you in an advantage or eventually it will be the way to stay at equilibrium with what the increased employer expectations are probably going to be?
Benjamin Schleider
14:31
Yeah, that's a great question. I Yeah. I mean, I think that you know where we currently are, right now, it's you have to be using not only ChaCha BTB Yes, you have to be using multiple AI, you know, API's services. It's really becoming standard. And it's, again, it's your assistant, you know, it's it's kind of like you're you're the one driving a car and you have to make sure you're If you're staying in the lanes, make sure that you know things are going correctly, and you're telling it where you want to go. And it'll, it'll help you get there, you know, maybe 90%. But, you know, you're gonna have to still do some of that. Some of the things that still take human capabilities and, you know, I really, for instance, I think that if you're going to have a salesperson, they're going to do more sales, if they have an AI assistant, if you have someone who's a screenwriter, they're going to be able to produce, you know, more ideas for a screenplay, it's going to be a force multiplier. You know, it's, it's already started and into the future, it's going to be continuing to be a force multiplier.
Dr. Brian Arnold
15:51
Love that term. So let's assuming that not everyone listening is at the same level of enthusiasm, or familiarity with the tools, although I imagine that's probably what drew them to this conversation. use the analogy of driving the car. So at what level does using these tools require? And I'm begging the metaphor here, you to be a mechanic? and at what level? Are you simply you've passed your driver's test, and you know how to use these tools? And then we'll talk a little bit about your own experience, how technologically savvy Are you in? And given that you've really leveraged the these tools to your benefit?
Benjamin Schleider
16:33
Yeah, great, great question. I, you know, right now, I think that even, you know, 90 year old grandma and grandpa's could could use chatty putty very easily. You know, all they really, it's because it's gone from the user interface is, you know, it, you don't even have to type into it, you can just speak to it. You know, so it's the, the barrier to entry of using AI is so low. I mean, we use AI all day, every day, and you know, it, whether we know it or not, that sounds kind of scary, but you know, if it really it depends on who's, who's in charge of the AI? Are they? Are they using it for for good purposes? And, you know, are they trying to make you a better person? Are they trying to help you get to where you want to go? Because, you know, if, if the AI is there to to help you get to where you want to go, it's being used in a appropriate manner, then, you know, I think that the future looks really bright. And, you know, so it's really, it kind of, it really depends on who's using it, how they're using it, and what they're trying to do. And, you know, again, the possibilities are kind of endless. It's a, it's an open playing field.
Dr. Brian Arnold
18:01
So Ben, I really, I love the your optimism and your perspective, the virtual assistant and a partner force multiplier, but there's a lot of chatter out there about the different types of applications this could conceivably be put to it's a tool, it's neutral. People aren't always, what sort of ethical considerations or if any, are on your mind, in its use?
Benjamin Schleider
18:26
Yeah, you know. So, again, it's like the, it's like the gun debate, it's, you know, that's such a hard topic to talk about. But, you know, it really kind of comes down to the person who's using it, the developer of the system, and then also to is, so it's a double edged sword, that it's a dual use. So there's, so there's the ability to produce malicious software, I think that's already kind of improvement, but then there's also so that cat is already out of the bag, and then you also have the ability to produce cybersecurity tools that are, you know, at a much faster rate.
And so, you know, do you think that the people who are going to produce malicious software are going to stop? No, they'll probably end up getting, you know, an island, where there's no regulation, and they'll just, they'll be the ones that have the strongest AI. So like, you don't want to over regulate the people who are gonna be following the rules, so that they're not able to combat the people who are not going to follow the rules. So you gotta there has to be, you know, and there has to be some sort of way to figure out if someone's using it for good or bad, but then that also turns into some privacy concerns. So it's it's a difficult topic, and but I would think that over regulation is going to would lead to potential bad outcome for for the populace because If you over regulate, then you'll leave it open to say North Korea, getting a super strong AI. And we're left holding, super watered down AI. So it there's there's a lot of different ways to look at this.
Dr. Brian Arnold
20:15
I appreciate your perspective on this and that a lot of us are viewing this, I'm assuming from sort of our own personal usage perspective. And maybe if we get really big picture, we're thinking about its role in the United States. But this is a global technology and has global implications. So a short question, but loaded? If you were to predict, is this going to bring us closer to a utopia or dystopia? Or just to topia? Would you put your money on?
Benjamin Schleider
20:48
I don't know, just a topia would look like. You know, I, I think that there are going to be, I hope that it becomes utopian. I think that that's where everyone, and it definitely has potential to do so. The, you know, that would kind of lead to like, how many people in the world do you think are good? And I would say, you know, most people are probably good, there are always a few, you know, malicious actors, but you know, the people who are good, but need to have tools to be able to safeguard that utopia, if you will. And so I think that, if, if, if we keep things with the vision of being a utopia, and that's how we're using the AI, and don't get me wrong, I think there are gonna be a ton of different AI's, I don't think there's only one artificial general intelligence, I think there's going to be hundreds
Dr. Brian Arnold
21:54
we just stop and then define that for our listener. Artificial Narrow Intelligence versus artificial general.
Benjamin Schleider
22:01
Yeah, so like Narrow Intelligence would be, it's really good at detecting sentiment, or Narrow Intelligence would be it can it can drive a car and keep it between lines. So general intelligence would be it could, it could not only drive a car, it could also go pick up the groceries, it could go could go, you know, trade stocks, and detect sentiment sentiment, and also, you know, 100, different other things that humans would be able to do, but much better, you know, make phone calls, send emails, have a podcast, like we're currently having now. And it could do it all simultaneously, you know, while making breakfast.
Dr. Brian Arnold
22:47
Right? And this is a level that does not currently exist, correct?
Benjamin Schleider
22:50
No, but it probably could very soon, I think that the tools are pretty close to being there. You know, it's just really kind of a matter of combining a lot of them. And, you know, a lot of people would probably disagree, a lot of people are saying, you know, AGI so far away, but I mean, if you look at some of the, the tests that, and this is, this is what we have access to, to GPT for it's able to pass a multitude of of tests better than most humans. So I mean, would you consider that? AGI? I mean, I personally wouldn't.
Dr. Brian Arnold
23:27
I am personally unqualified to make that distinction. But I just wanted to make sure everyone knew the terms. And I think planning for what's next is a lot of what we're talking about. So I really appreciate you keeping our eyes focused in that direction. Did I cut you off? I'm sorry?
Benjamin Schleider
23:45
No, an AGI is basically it's a system computer system that's able to do everything humans able to do, and probably better, and then it continually learns. So like, it'll be able to update its own code. But and that's where kind of a the alignment problem comes into play. So the alignment problem is, is the AI going to be aligned with with humans and their and their goals? And, and then that comes down to a whole bunch of different questions, which most people probably don't have the answer to, which is what are like what are our values?
So, you know, there's a lot to iron out here. But, you know, if we if we're able to align it with human values, which would be you know, probably something really simple, like, non malicious, you know, no mal intent, and, you know, probably maybe a few other things, we would be able to create a utopia, I believe, where, you know, we would have to have cheap energy, we would, we would have to have cheap energy, cheap, cheap GPUs. And then we would also need to have, you know, the AGI be able to assist in cybersecurity efforts. We wouldn't want the AGI to get hacked and you know, then be a Uh, you know, on the side of certain malicious actor, but you know, there's all these things to be ironed out. And that'll probably happen, you know, in the next decade, maybe maybe sooner probably sooner.
Dr. Brian Arnold
25:10
I appreciate your take on this. It sounds like it's complicated. And don't. Hopefully utopia is, too.
Benjamin Schleider
I think we have a good chance at it.
Dr. Brian Arnold
Yeah. Awesome. So I'm going to pull the conversation, I think we're kind of heavy in the clouds there, which is great. I love that. Let's bring it back to remote work for just a few minutes. So my question to you is, what advice do you have for the two types of remote workers that I've encountered who have declared I can't work from home, and they tend to break it down into two groups, I can't work from home because I'm too distracted, and don't get my work done. And at the other end of this continuum that I forgot to set up in this analogy, I'm always at work because work is at home, and it never ends. How do you balance that?
Benjamin Schleider
25:58
Yeah, I would, I would highly recommend joining a co working space, if you have the ability to do so. You know, so I'm at a we work currently, and, you know, there's we works, there, they're scattered all over all over the world, really. So I would highly recommend co working spaces, it's a great way to network with people, you know, they give you free coffee, or, you know, you get the membership free coffee, which actually kind of pays for itself, I think it's like 10 bucks a day is what it comes out to. And so you know, if you get to cappuccinos or something in your local coffee shop, it's it comes out to be the same price.
So, and then you get to community to, to be around. And then you know, really kind of separating your you know, if you have a room in your house or your apartment making that your office, you know, always go into a coffee shop is nice. If if you don't need to be on the phone or have like a quiet area, go into a coffee shop is always nice. I've done, you know, hotspot from my, my phone, you know, it's like a picnic bench if, you know if I don't have to be on the phone. So you know, that's, that's nice for an afternoon. There are a lot of options. But yeah, getting I've been there where you want to get out, you want to you know, you just had breakfast, and you just woke up and you're you know, like a one, you know, single room studio apartment changing scenery, and, you know, being able to get work done in a coffee shop or co working spaces is always nice.
Dr. Brian Arnold
27:28
Excellent. Thank you for those very specific solutions. I think that this is something that a lot of folks struggle with. It kind of leans in another question I was going to ask which which may be tangential may be still on topic. What? What would you say to folks who resist remote work, because at some level, their social community is provided by their employer? Do you think that's a reasonable expectation? Do you feel like like, go ahead,
Benjamin Schleider
28:02
you know, remote work. It's not for everyone, you know, if you don't like working remotely, and, and there's an office to go to, you know, that's, that's perfectly acceptable. It's, it's what you prefer? Yeah. And, you know, if, if you if you feel like you're having trouble, or feeling somewhat isolated, again, the co working spaces, conferences are a great way to get out network. You know, if there's a topic that you're maybe a beginner on going to a cheap conference, to, you know, over the weekend, or during the week, I'm sure your, your boss or your your company will be more than happy to send you to a to learn about, you know, in AI conference for, you know, logistics if you work in the logistics industry.
So and then also, meetups meetups are also a great way to, you know, meet people that are like minded or in the industry that you're interested in or that you work in. So there's a there are a ton of different different ways to get out there. And, you know, get out get out of, you know, what would feel like you're kind of just in your home and working from your kitchen counter. And one more thing you use chat up to, it'll tell you a bunch of different ways to kind of spice things up.
Dr. Brian Arnold
29:23
Excellent. All right, coming back full circle. Okay, so let me ask you a question that's generation based and both sides, I think we're assuming the best of intentions and no derogatory generalizations. So other than growing up with technology, do you think that millennials are better suited to this relative isolation of remote work of the better more than Gen Xers or even more than Gen Y, or simply that they're the beginning of this group that's grown up with the tech?
Benjamin Schleider
29:55
Oh, yeah, this this is a good question. I feel like you You know, millennials, we, and you know, I don't speak for everyone. But, you know, I saw I was born in 1990, I think the first interaction I had with the computer was, you know, my dad came home with a briefcase that it looked like a briefcase, it was a computer. And so like that, that was stored downstairs. And then, you know, he would work from from that, and then eventually made its way to the laundry room, which was like a real, like desktop computer. And then it made its way into its own room.
And then we had like, office. And so we had, like, you know, so it kind of like, progressed, and that was over, you know, maybe 18 months, and then we had, you know, Windows 95 Come out. And so, you know, we, the computer had its own room by, you know, within 18 months. And so, that was kind of like my first interactions with a computer. And then, you know, I was on AOL, you know, everyone growing up, probably remembers AOL. The younger generations probably don't really remember it so much. But we would get done with school, we would interact on AOL, and that was kind of, you know, the beginnings of social interaction online. For me, and, and so, you know, it feels like, you know, not much has really changed, you have slack, which is kind of a similar interface, you're saying, hey, is there a meeting, that we could, we could have on zoom in, you know, this week.
So it's kind of a similar type of interaction is feels like, and but now, the only thing for me that's kind of changed is that, you know, I'm at a co working space I'm in, I'm in Barcelona, currently. And so it's kind of, like, if you have an internet connection, and you want to go somewhere in the world, you can always rent your apartment out and kind of get out of your comfort zone, and go check out the world. And, you know, again, sometimes the timezone benefits us, sometimes it doesn't. But you know, as long as you have an internet connection, and you and you have discipline, you'll you'll be able to get your work done, and sometimes earlier than expected,
Dr. Brian Arnold
32:10
Wow, there's so much rich context there to unpack. I appreciate the analogies that you made. what's occurring to me based on what you said is, it's not just that millennials grew up with a technology, like the ability to do word processing, and Excel spreadsheets. But they grew up in a time where that technology was a social interaction platform. Millennials forward have that as part of their growing up experience. I also like the visual metaphor of technology, going from the basement and working its way up to primetime. And I guess now eventually into our pockets.
So yeah, that's fantastic. That's a lot of food for thought. I appreciate that. Looks like we're coming up on time. How about I ask you one more question. And then we close out here. So for the folks that are interested in remote work, sometimes they see it as a viable option and their employer does not. So setting aside that the the job requires that you be nose to nose with your customer? What advice or strategies would you give other than checking an AI? For the folks whose employers just don't see it that way? They think it's important that everyone comes in and can see each other and touch noses. And remote work is not free, you can't do it.
Benjamin Schleider
33:46
Yeah, you know, this is a, this is a tough, a tough one for maybe companies that really have to be in the office. You know, like, if you're working for a startup where you're an engineer and you're working for it's a hardware startup where you're maybe building robotics, it would be probably difficult to have a team of, you know, 10 roboticists all working at home on the same project that would get expensive. But on the other hand, if, if you're, say, a salesperson or, or you're in operations, and all you do during the day is if you're on a computer, and you know, it's it's nice to have someone like, you know, an arm's length away to say, Hey, do you do you know this but if you know how to utilize slack or you know, any instant messaging type of system, it's pretty much the same thing.
You know, if it wouldn't be much different to ping me on on Slack, then had me, you know, 20 feet away might, it might even be more efficient. And in some of the, like, I've had to go to, to work where I have to be in the office and before and so, you know, a lot of the time, we'd all be in our separate offices and talking on Slack. It was like, Well, you know, what's, what's kind of what's, you know, it's just what's going on here, you know, so, be, you know, be remote. It really isn't for everyone, but but it can be for people who want to save time from traffic, you know, if you're, if you're stuck in traffic, I don't know, I don't know where you all are located. But like, let's say you're in Austin, Texas, or LA, you know, an hour, maybe two hours to work, maybe an hour, two hours back, you know, that really adds up, that's, you know, 1010 hours a week is a part time job. Yeah, exactly. And so like that, that can really add up.
And so if you're, if you're working from home, during the pandemic, if you were working from home during the pandemic, and now you're, your boss is saying, let's get back to the office, you know, the job market, is, you can definitely get a new job. If you really want to, and, you know, that sounds kind of ridiculous for some people, but, you know, having a backup plan, like a side hustle, or, that's, that's always a nice option. But then also, you know, the, the best option is to really kind of have a conversation with your team with your your boss, and say, you know, what their concerns are, if it's that, they just want to see you in the office, you know, then the employee, if they want to stay remote, they could always say, well, you know, this is how much it costs for me to be stuck in traffic on, you know, 15 hours away from my computer, I'm spending, you know, whatever the gas prices, however far after go, and, and this is actually reducing my productivity, if you could also show that you're more productive when you're working remotely, then you're, then it doesn't make sense for your boss to say, to come back into the office, because you can say, you can point to the numbers and say, Hey, this is, you know, I've made an extra with that 15 hours a week, I've made an extra sale.
Or I've, you know, I've, I've, if you're a programmer, I've I've added this extra feature. And so, you know, there, there are a lot of different ways to kind of look at this and say, it doesn't make sense for me to come in, you know, if I if I if you want to, if you want me to come in once a week, if the if you want to do that, then I'll come in, you know, select a certain day, you know, I and then another thing too is if if it's cheaper for you to go abroad, and you know, live somewhere where it's the cost, livings half price, your employer doesn't have to have a physical location. So say they spend $10,000 a month in just renting an office space. I mean, that would be $10,000, they could put to marketing, they could put that to hiring a new person, you know, it just kind of go down a list what you could do with all that, although the money that they're saving, and then also the time that their employees are saving
Dr. Brian Arnold
38:21
a bend, this is fantastic. I think you've shattered a few paradigms for me. And I like you're using, you know, make a business case to the business. You know, this is why it benefits everybody. I think that's a great perspective. And since we all have reasonable bosses, I'm sure that will work out. So let me ask you before, I'm going to ask you if you have any closing thoughts, but also in those closing thoughts? Could you let our listeners know how to find your book and how they can connect with you?
Benjamin Schleider
38:52
Yeah, so closing thoughts? Don't Don't be afraid of AI. Use AI for good. It can really help you. And you know, if we all collectively are trying to make this is gonna sound maybe a little wishy washy the world a better place, then that will be the training set for the AI to assist us in making the world a better place. And then yeah, my book is my books are on Amazon. Benjamin slider it's that's if you if you Google Benjamin Schlatter Millennials AI guide the all my books should pop up. And yeah, thank you so much for for having me.
Dr. Brian Arnold
39:33
Yeah. Is there a good way to get a hold of you if they're interested in having you speak or have a question for you?
Benjamin Schleider
39:38
Yeah, you could reach out to me on on LinkedIn. I actually don't have social media aside from LinkedIn. I maybe I should but you know, I just that's a whole separate I'd be a whole separate podcast about amount of data that social media collects, so but so yeah, no, LinkedIn. It's good Benjamin slider, you could find me a jiobit. So Benjamin slider jiobit. And that should pop right up.
Dr. Brian Arnold
40:08
Excellent. Thank you, Ben. And I appreciate that you're a discerning technology user. You're not saying it's all technology all the time you're saying some of them are for you, and some of them are not, which is great. So, I thank you for joining us in support of the center of the advancement of virtual organizations. Definitely appreciate your insights, your call to make the world a better place, and I know the listeners will benefit from listening to your experience. So thank you, Ben.
Benjamin Schleider
40:37
Thank you, Brian. All right. Take care. You too.