I was recently invited onto the Blades and Bloodlines podcast. The conversation moved through a lot of different places. Construction. Business. Grief. Fatherhood. Coaching. Identity. Responsibility. The stories people carry about themselves. But one part of the conversation feels especially relevant right now. AI.
Not from the angle of fear. Not from the angle of "robots are taking over." More from the angle of this question: What are we actually trying to compete with? Because if we keep trying to beat machines at machine-like things, I think we've already lost. Machines will process faster. They'll sort data faster. They'll follow systems faster.
They'll produce, repeat, calculate, automate, and optimise faster than we can. So why are so many people still trying to become more mechanical? More efficient. More optimised. More systemised. More productive. More like the very thing they're scared of being replaced by. That's the part I find interesting. My thoughts are that the real work moving forward is not learning how to become more machine-like. It's learning how to become more human. And that sounds simple until you actually sit with it.
Because being human is not just having a body and a heartbeat. It means learning how to understand your interpretations. Your emotions Your reactions. Your insecurities Your conversations. Your standards. Your relationships. Your uncertainty. Your concerns. Your ability to listen, speak, declare, request, commit, and respond. That's where my work sits. Not in helping people become more polished machines. But helping people understand the human being underneath the performance. The one making meaning. The one carrying old stories. The one reacting from moods they haven't named. The one avoiding conversations they need to have. The one chasing a future while still being dragged around by old interpretations. In the podcast, I spoke about this through the lens of fatherhood as well. Because when I think about my daughter's future, I don't think the main question is, "How do I help her compete with AI?" I think the better question is: How do I help her become deeply human in a world that keeps pulling people toward mechanical thinking? That's a very different concern. And it's one I think more parents, leaders, business owners, teachers, and professionals are going to have to face. I've attached a short clip from that part of the conversation. The full podcast goes much deeper into my story, my work, and why I believe this kind of conversation comes at a very interesting time. You can watch the short clip here:
And the full episode can be watched by clicking any of the icons below.
Filimon
P.S Shout out to Aidan Biasi from Blades and Bloodlines who invited me on and had one request - share my stories. I had my first haircut at that generational barbershop as a nine-year-old when my dad took me there. I never would have imagined that almost 40 years later, I'd be sitting in that same place recording a podcast.
PP.S. This clip gives a small taste of where I think coaching, leadership, education, and personal development need to move. Less mechanical. More human. Less performance mask. More awareness of the person underneath it.