Hello, this is Oing.
In recent times, from the younger generation to parents with children, there is a pervasive anxiety about the future. With Artificial Intelligence (AI) seemingly poised to consume everything, many are grappling with how to protect and grow their personal value. Countless people are rushing to learn coding, acquire new certifications, or demand higher academic achievements for their children, all in an attempt to survive the AI era. But you must pay close attention. The core insight I am bringing you today is that the direction of your effort might be completely wrong.
Kim Min-shik, a writer and lecturer who worked as an MBC PD for 24 years and weathered countless changes, says he is most worried about students today. Why? Because they do not know how to make money. A world is coming where advanced degrees, technical certifications, and even knowledge itself will not hold much weight.
Why One Experienced Professional Outweighs Three New Hires
The easiest way to understand AI is this: AI is a tool, an amplifier that dramatically boosts productivity. It is comparable to the shift from digging the ground with a shovel to the introduction of the excavator.
If the productivity gap between someone who was excellent at shoveling and someone who was not was 1 to 10, the moment the amplifier known as the excavator arrived, this gap widened to 1 to 100. AI is that excavator.
Here is the crucial lesson. There is a world of difference in the outcome between the person who only has the technical skill to drive the excavator—that is, the skill to use AI—and the person who wields it because they know ‘where to dig to find money.’
You could hire three new employees, but if you give them the excavator and they do not know where to dig, they will just scrape here and there, drawing a big picture without finding value.
However, an experienced professional who knows where the money is located through their working life is different. They will go to the precise location and start digging with the excavator, and they will strike gold.
Ultimately, the key to increasing your value in the AI era is “knowing what to do to make money,” which is fundamentally about experience. Get out into the workforce and gain experience making money as soon as you can. No matter how much you study in school, if you do not understand the flow of money and the creation of value, that advanced degree will likely be useless.
Seek Wisdom Over Knowledge, Experience Failure Over Success
This advice also applies to parents raising children. Do not strive to fill your children’s minds with more knowledge by pushing for higher academic degrees or technical skills. Humans cannot keep up with the machine-learning knowledge of AI. Technology, too, cannot outpace the machines and robots equipped with AI.
What, then, is important for us? It is wisdom.
Wisdom is created when experience is added to knowledge.
The experience I speak of does not necessarily have to be one of success. On the contrary, the experience of failure is what truly builds our capabilities. Why? Because when we fail, we finally pause to consider ‘why I failed’ and ‘what I should do next,’ combining this reflection with our existing knowledge. That deliberation is what shapes us into wise human beings.
💡 If You Do Not Act, You Will Become a Media Slave in the AI Era
AI will produce incredibly entertaining content. Comics, short-form videos (Shorts), games—amazing visuals that were impossible to film before will pour out. Individuals without a driving passion are highly likely to fall into the abyss of this media consumption and become addicted.
Yet, a producer—someone who has something they want to do, who wants to write, make videos, or create content—will leverage AI to maximize their productivity. AI is a tool to aid production.
In the end, only the proactive human being who acts and executes can survive this era. The person who sets their own goals and uses AI as a tool to achieve them will be the winner of this game. Will you remain a consumer, or will you transition to a producer?
The Most Practical Execution Routine to Explode Your Value: English + ChatGPT
So, what is the most realistic action you can start today? I still recommend studying English.
The argument that you do not need English because automatic translation features have improved is like saying you do not need to learn to walk or ride a bicycle because cars exist. You should be able to handle basic conversation yourself; then, for complex and important discussions, you can use the translator’s help to amplify your influence.
Furthermore, English is the most certain way to gain an informational advantage by communicating with the world’s 5 to 6 billion people. The choice is yours: Will you limit your information to 50 million people by only speaking Korean, or will you use English to access the world stage?
How to Have the ‘Guru’ Teacher for Free
The best way to start studying English without spending a penny is to utilize ChatGPT. ChatGPT can now be your best native-speaking conversation partner.
- Patience King: It can carry on an endless conversation without you feeling embarrassed, even if you speak nonsense or have poor pronunciation. It is like having a personal guru teacher.
- Customized Education: You can demand, “Imagine I am a 10-year-old and answer me,” or “Keep the answers short, two or three sentences,” and it will adjust the difficulty to your level.
- Feedback: Even when you use awkward English, it will praise you with a “Nice try” and suggest better expressions.
Honestly, do you really need to pay an expensive subscription fee? The free version is perfectly sufficient for starting out. Try conversation practice for 5 or 10 minutes. When you feel confident that this functionality is worth the monthly fee, then consider a paid subscription.
Ultimately, what changes life is not a grand goal, but a routine. A consistent 10-minute routine—10 minutes of reading aloud in the morning, 10 minutes of audio listening during the commute, 10 minutes of memorization after work—is the single method that will explode your personal value.
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Oing is dedicated to discussing realistic side hustles and survival strategies within the structure of capitalism.
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