I'm one month into a six-month paternity leave. It's been wonderful so far. My son Ollie has arrived into a rapidly changing world; he's loved and safe but who knows what is in store for his generation. Frankly, who knows what is in store for mine.
I continue to be blown away by the power of AI, ChatGPT alone has transformed how I approach problems, plan holidays, process my thoughts. I know it's not all positive, indeed I've found myself lost in the app at times when I should be present at home with my wife, and now my son. It's easy to distract myself with this technology, designed to lure me in with its over the top positive reinforcement and responses tailored to my specific taste. Whether we like it or not, AI is very much with us and LLMs are not going anywhere. For that reason I believe this is a technology to be embraced (with caution) and integrated into our life and work.
As I type this, Ollie is snoozing in his baby sleeper, a slight whistle in his nose. Meanwhile, Mia is sleeping upstairs between feeds. I've found these "in between" slots are precious. It's quiet time I can devote time to reflect, learn and ensure I can be present tomorrow for my family.
I've just asked ChatGPT for an honest assessment of myself, it was brutally accurate: I'm a perfectionist who collects hobbies but never commits long enough to get really good at any of them. I continually spend time planning, building systems, preparing for future projects, but little time actually executing. This is entirely true. To name a few hobbies, I've picked up golf, music production, python programming, Crossfit, road-biking and (very briefly) triathlon. Apparently (AI tells me) this is symptomatic of my high achiever upbringing, I got good grades, graduated with a first degree from university and was hired into the top firms in the accounting profession. So now, I'm unsatisfied if I pick something up and either don't see immediate progress or success, this leads me to bounce from project to project, expecting quick wins and instant gratification. Plus, outside of an educational or work environment, it's hard to gauge success. The problem is there's no clear benchmark. No exam to pass. No promotion to earn. Just endless practice with ambiguous progress.
So, what is the solution?
Aside from being a present husband and dad, during the remainder of my paternity leave I've decided to pick one hobby seriously and blog about it – Artificial Intelligence. This holds me accountable, gives me tangible output and gives me something to do in the hours between nappy changes and bottle feeds.
This technology that is set to transform our lives, especially Ollie's. My goal is not to become an LLM engineer, or publish a world-beating agentic application, no, I'm just looking to understand the technology and apply it in interesting ways in my personal life and career. This blog is my commitment: one post per week about what I'm learning, building, and trying with AI.