Say goodbye to the knowledge economy 🪦

IDEAS TO CONSIDER

• AI will replace most clothing models

• Mark Zuckerberg fears ChatGPT more than You (TY for sharing Michael)

• The new era of humanity: Humans as luxury goods

• The manager era is over

ChatGPT can write most of your company code, design your basic assets, and write a few solid copywriting phrases that make someone think you hired a $500 scriptwriter.

You may be wondering, "How do I compete with AI?"

This is the question many of my friends of upper-level education are asking themselves, as they find their job prospects shattered by the simple fact that either they need to take a role at ½ their paygrade or risk being “outbid” by someone with 2x the experience…. also taking a job at ½ their paygrade.

This is the reality for several Georgetown MBAs I know

Therefore, I write this newsletter towards my colleagues, and for anyone experiencing this same frustration.

First, we must reframe the question about AI.

The real question is, "How do I become irreplaceable in a world where knowledge is free and abundant?"

For decades, we've operated under a simple assumption: knowledge is power.

➜ Get the right degree.
➜ Accumulate expertise.
➜ Build your technical skills.
➜ Climb the ladder.

This model worked when knowledge was expensive to acquire and difficult to distribute. A Harvard MBA meant something because not everyone could access those insights.

AI is blowing up this entire framework.

When ChatGPT can write code, analyze data, and synthesize research in seconds, knowledge becomes abundant. When answers are free, the shift turns to the message, the angle, and the meaning behind the answer.

AI artificially (by name) creates meaning for us.

We can mostly tell when something is written by AI when there is little context behind it. Take this example:

Do you feel the difference?

The first one focuses on everything the video production service does, but the second one focuses on the feeling the service evokes.

If you were a luxury clothing brand, which would you buy from?

(Side note — if you'd say “neither,” this is why you still need a copywriter. Good outputs are never one-and-done prompts)

What we call “expertise” is a downward hill.

Anyone can create code, art, or copy with AI.

The new moat is more human.

The differentiation factor for most companies will no longer be knowledge itself, but how knowledge is connected.

In other words: the message. the angle. the purpose.

As AI commoditizes knowledge work, a new tier emerges: the vibe worker.

Vibe workers aren't experts.

Vibe workers are mile wide and inch deep.

They choose aspects of seemingly unconnected ideas, design them into puzzle pieces, and form their own Rubik's Cube.

Vibe workers are excellent curators.

They focus on the vision, rather than the execution (let AI handle that).

In the current reality, knowledge workers focus on what they know.

Vibe workers focus on how they make people feel.

Vibe workers create a new class of meaning, new colors in a seemingly unrelated palette.

Vibes connect people.

The value of vibe workers comes not from what they know, but instead from what they feel is right for their target audience and ideal outcome.

Here's how to signal your way into this tier:

Make Your Value Expensive 

A peacock's tail is valuable precisely because only a strong bird can afford the energy to grow a magnificent one. However, in reality, it's ‘inefficient’.

In your career, this means making choices that others can't or won't make. Turning down the "safe" consulting job to join an unknown startup. Spending years developing expertise in a field you see potential in before it becomes trendy.

Build Through Relationships 

Knowledge can be Googled. Judgment can't be replicated. But both are amplified through relationships.

The person who gets the promotion isn't always the smartest in the room. They're often the most connected. They know who to ask. They understand the unwritten rules. They can navigate organizational dynamics.

Practice High-Level Curiosity 

Ask questions that require time, effort, and intellectual courage. Questions that challenge accepted truths. Questions that others are afraid to ask.

The point is not to become a contrarian. We ask high-level questions to develop a reputation of seeing what others miss. When you do that, you are above AI, because only you can see the forest through the trees.

🎶 OUR PLAYLIST

I'm currently offering a FREE Brand Voice Analysis Guide to anyone in August. You get a detailed, strategic yet reflective analysis of your Brand Voice to use in creating social media content, scripts, or web copy. What will happen is we will have 2 calls: One interview and one follow-up review.

Here's a recent testimonial:

Reply to this email, and I'll send you time to book the interview.

Sincerely,

Lauren and the Connections team