Intro

There have been several moments in my career I’ve decided to reinvent my professional self. I thought I was going to be an animator but this thing called the Internet was born and I pursued web design instead. I gave the design for a website to a programmer to implement and it came back terrible, so I added frontend and backend web development to my quiver. A consulting project enabled me to discover a love for designing web applications, so I evolved into a product designer. I sought out roles where I could design complicated software products for businesses. I guess I’ve always been the type of person to proactively carve their own path.

The feeling

It always starts with a feeling of stirring discomfort. Something in my soul tells me the job I have or the way I’m doing things, is not the path I need to be on. I have a tendency to ignore this at first, but it nags at me. I have a love of learning new things, but it can be difficult. It makes my head hurt honestly and my time and energy are finite. But there are moments when I truly grasp a new concept. That is extremely rewarding. When I recognize this new thing can accelerate how I do things or even create a completely different path for me, I know it’s time to embrace this feeling.

I’m here again. Standing at the precipice and staring into the vastness of what lies below. I can make out hints of what is down there and some of it looks exciting. Most of it hasn’t been illuminated yet, and the uncertainty terrifies me. I hear voices too. Lots of them. Some loud, some but a whisper. It’s hard to know which ones to trust. But there are a few that have grabbed my ear.

The elephant

Of course the elephant in this post is artificial intelligence (AI). Have you heard of it? Let’s break through the hype a bit.

I’ve been working in an AI-centric business for over five years. The company I work for uses behavioral reinforcement learning (BRL). BRL is a machine learning technique that trains software to make decisions to achieve the most optimal results. In our case, we learn what works to get people to schedule important cancer screenings, medical procedures, and vaccinations through various messaging channels. It’s highly effective, but I’d be surprised if you heard someone talking about it at dinner.

Large language models (LLMs) though, have opened the AI door to utilitarian purposes. And everyone is talking about it. The natural language interface used by tools like ChatGPT and Claude, makes working with AI accessible. Getting up and running doesn’t require the complexity of a traditional AI implementation either.

The metamorphosis

I think the release of LLMs started my metamorphosis. It’s not just hype. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of hype. But there are a ton of practical applications in use today. I’m leveraging LLMs for AI-assisted coding, research, and writing. Next, I’m going to explore how to incorporate LLMs and adjacent technologies into workflows and processes I’ve developed throughout my career. Though I have a feeling some of the way I’ve done things in the past will be left behind.

But what am I turning into? In a way, this reminds me of my early career in web design. I had to constantly learn new techniques to do my job. As someone who loves to learn, it’s the sweet spot. Get asked to do something you haven’t done before, go read a book or article about it, try to implement it on the job, see what works and what doesn’t. Rinse, repeat.

Now though I have an LLM partner. I can ask it to do things and usually it does what I ask. It isn’t always right and occasionally makes stuff up. It is getting better though as am I. I’m learning how to give it the inputs it needs to produce the right output more often than not. Garbage in garbage out I guess.

My LLM partner is also helping me learn faster. I’ve been taking development courses, and when I’m unsure about a topic, I can ask it to explain it to me. It’s also great at helping me debug code from homework assignments I can’t seem to get right.

Not alone

This change excites me, and I’m not alone. I’ve been networking more than usual the past few months. Everyone I talk to has an energy I haven’t felt in a while. They’re also seeing the benefits of working with LLMs. One friend told me, “This is the most excited I’ve been about design and development in 14 years!”

The energy reminds me of two particular moments: the birth of the internet which led to the dot-com boom and the launch of the iPhone. Those moments ushered in a wave of reinvention and shake up of the status quo. There was uncertainty and there was opportunity. Early adopters who jumped in, became leaders in new fields.

A man has no name

There isn’t a name for what I’m turning into. Web Designer, Web Developer, and UX Designer. All weren’t names for what I became until someone coined them and industry adopted them. And what an adoption. Businesses were built and thrived on the backs of these and adjacent roles.

When looking for a new job in those roles, there is a plethora of advice about how to structure your resume, design your portfolio, and prepare for interviews. I feel like all of that, and I’d toss job descriptions on that pile, are outdated now.

I’m embracing the uncertainty. Using the excitement and feeling of the moment, to move me forward. Knowing this is a long-term transformation rather than a quick change, I’m taking it slow. I’m sure the veil of what I am becoming will start to come into focus. It doesn’t have a name yet.

I guess for now, you can just call me Geoff.