Bombshell Week in AI (And an "Eventful" Week On the Farm...)

It's been a bombshell week in AI.

And in today's issue of The Digital Contrarian - I'm going explain why.

(I'll also explain the photo of me in the back of an ambulance - and the "eventful" week on the farm in a moment...)

But first...

If you missed my email from last week, I'm up against a tight deadline with my forthcoming book - Return to Real - and because my writing bandwidth is limited, this issue is going to be a bit shorter than past TDC issues.

That being said...

Because it was such a BIG week in the world of AI - with a few bombshell announcements, I want to provide a bit of insight into what it all means and how we might interpret this data.

1 | Here's the Context...

Earlier this week, I hosted a 4-hour Agentic AI Intensive with Sam Woods for members of my Strategic Advisory Group Mastermind and paid guests who joined us for the live session.

Sam joined me up on my farm, where we delivered the session together in-person from our 200-year old farmhouse. It was an cool juxtaposition of the return to real and the digital and artificial.

It was a session all about how to get parts of your business to run autonomously using Agentic AI technology, including platforms like Gumloop and n8n in combination with tools like Claude and ChatGPT.

Sam did an excellent job: The feedback was overwhelmingly positive (with an NPS Score of 71, which is generally considered to be "world class") with comments like:

And quite ironically...

This intensive, was right on the heels of OpenAI's release of ChatGPT agent...

Which allows you to combine OpenAI's Operator (i.e. the ability to interact with websites), Deep Research (i.e. synthesizing complex information), and ChatGPT (i.e. as your conversational interface.)

↑ You will see in that link, how ChatGPT Agent performs on both a number of real-world tasks and benchmark tests - relative to previous models of ChatGPT without agent capability.

But that's not even why it was such a big week in the world of AI.

It was also a big week for another reason.

2 | Microsoft's "AI Job Impact" Research Paper...

Earlier this week...

Microsoft released a research paper measuring the occupational implications of AI based on 200K AI interactions over the last year.

And in this paper...

Researchers identify the Top 40 jobs most "AI-applicable" and the Top 40 jobs least "AI-applicable"...

Meaning, which jobs have the highest chance of being replaced and transformed - based on people's current use and interaction with AI today.

(I'll share both "Top 40 Lists" below in a moment...)

But first, if you read the entire paper from start to finish, there are a few findings that I find even more insightful than the Top 40 lists getting all the attention, like this table here:

This table identifies the "AI Tasks" that people currently report as being most satisfied and least satisfied with the AI-Generated results they receive.

Or another way to think about it is like this:

The stuff people report as being most satisfied with what AI gives them (in the green box) - is likely to be the work wherein AI most quickly displaces the humans performing those tasks today.

For example:

Research Health Care Issues; Research Laws, Precedents or Other Legal Data; and (unsurprisingly) Edit Written Materials or Documents.

In contrast, the stuff people report as being least satisfied with what AI gives them (in the red box) - is the stuff for which AI just isn't quite there yet, and wherein AI is least likely to displace the human workers performing these tasks today.

For example:

Evaluating the Quality and Accuracy of Data; Confer with Clients to Determine Needs; Create Visual Designs or Displays.

Why is this relevant and important?

I share this with you, because I think as we think about our own place in the world and this emerging post-AI economy...

I believe data points like this can be helpful to determine where we should consider shifting our focus - both as entrepreneurs and the business opportunities this presents, as well as professionals - and the type of work we pursue.

Now, in terms of the lists...

Here are the Top 40 Occupations with Highest AI Applicability Scores:

Here are the Top 40 Occupations with Lowest AI Applicability Scores:

Are there any surprises to you on either of these lists??

BTW - Here is a link to the full paper in case you're curious: Working with AI: Measuring the Occupational Implications of Generative AI

3 | So How should we be thinking about all this?

Well, I recently recorded a "controversial" podcast interview with Chris Ducker on how I believe we should be thinking about all this and preparing for the immediate future...

Chris described this conversation as:

"One of the most thought-provoking conversations I’ve ever shared..."

And this is how one listener described it after having a listen:

Naturally I'm biased...

But I highly recommend taking a few minutes to have a listen to this one.

In fact, if you're curious....

You can listen to the entire interview here on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

* * *

Okay, I promised to keep this issue short.

Because I really *do* need to get back to my impending book manuscript deadline for Return to Real...

(Next week I'm traveling to Austin, TX to record the first-draft manuscript of my book with Charlie Hoehn - and I still have some work to do.)

So I'm going to wrap this issue here.

Have a GREAT rest of your week.

Remember to hug the ones you love.

And until next week,

Ryan :-)

P.S. If you remember from two weeks ago [Issue #056] Storytelling: The Most Scalable Post-AI Skill? - I recalled the story of how I traveled to the UK to deliver a brand new keynote I had never before delivered:

This event, "The Long Haul Leader Summit" was hosted by none other than Chris Ducker himself (the same guy who hosted the podcast episode I mentioned above...)

And frankly, Chris's event was one of the best events I had been part of in a LONG time.

Now, the reason I mention this to you today...

Is because Chris just opened up spots for his 2025 Long Haul Leader Summit coming up in a few months, later this year in November.

And if you have any interest in attending this year's event...

Chris is offering a special discount code for my audience to join the event that gets you an additional 10% discount off the current super early bird pricing - before pricing goes up on August 1st.

Here's the link: http://longhaulleader.com/summit 

Here's the discount code to use at checkout: RYAN10

If you are in the UK or thinking about traveling to the UK, I highly recommend getting a ticket to attend.

* * *

P.P.S. Oh right! I almost forgot...

That photo of me in my Wellies sitting in the back of an ambulance??

Let's just say it was an "eventful" week here on the farm.

While working out in the pastures...

I managed to drop a fence post driver onto my head when I was banging in a 7-foot tall t-post over my head into the ground...

Thankfully, Tylene and Bradley were out in the pasture with me...

Because as soon as Tylene saw the blood gushing from my skull and the egg sized bump that formed - she insisted we call 911...

Turns out, "'twas but a flesh wound"

But as the ER doctor explained:

"All head injuries look like a crime scene."

(I'll spare you the photos. They are definitely NSFW.)

So all is well...

But it did make for an eventful day here on the farm...

And a good story to tell :-)

* * *

Okay!

I really am going to wrap this issue here.

I need to get back to this darn book so I'm ready for next week.

So please...

Have a great rest of your day...

And I look forward to connecting again next week.

All my best...

And more to come soon...

Ryan :-)