Am I Dr. Evil?

Yesterday afternoon, after I invited everyone on my list to meet my new AI robot, “Raymond” replied with this nasty-gram:

“No thanks! I still believe in real humans and the human race!”

Holy identity crisis, Batman! One minute I’m trying to help my fellow humans market their businesses better. The next minute some Justice League warrior accuses me of turning my back on humanity.

What’s a poor human to do?

I reached for my phone, fired up my favorite AI app, and ALMOST typed, “What should I do, Claude?” But then I paused and thought:

“I’ve got this! I’m a human being with a big human brain. I don’t need a robot to help me solve my identity crisis!”

Which is kind of the point.

We humans get to choose. We can decide when and how we use AI tools. And we shape how these AI tools work for us.

I still believe in real humans and the human race, too. That’s why I believe we can coexist and thrive with AI.

You can choose to operate your business without AI — just as you can choose to make a smoothie without a blender. You’ll get the job done. You’ll just do it far slower and less efficiently than those with the tools.

The question isn’t whether AI is good or evil. The question is how to use AI — and benefit from the advantages it gives you — while still standing out as a real human worth hiring.

Yesterday, when I unveiled my AI Noggin, I demonstrated how I do that — how I benefit from AI while keeping things human. I ended the demonstration by saying this:

“I’m gonna end this by saying I am still a huge believer in the importance of human beings writing human copy. I think it’s important that I say that. I share these tools with my clients, and I help my clients use them. I use these tools for the purpose of testing these tools. The emails I write every morning, I write from my own crusty brain. I would encourage you, as you explore tools like this, to exercise your writing muscle. The order of operations: Give it a try. Do your best. Write what you will without banging your head against the wall and driving yourself crazy. And then hand it off to Noggin and let Noggin coach you through how to make it better. That’s a great model for producing great content. And the content will generally be more authentic and higher quality if it started with you.”

One last thing: The humans who met my AI Noggin yesterday loved it. And I’m giving them their own AI Noggin to use for free.

Next week, I’m going to do a repeat presentation for those who would like to see how Noggin can help them market their businesses better.

If you’d like to attend, please reply to this email with “I’m not Dr. Evil” and I’ll send you the details.