In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore what happens when AI accelerates everything, including our doubts about the future. Harper Reed, entrepreneur and technologist from Chicago, joins us to discuss how AI is fundamentally changing the nature of work, creativity, and identity.

From his early days learning to code at five years old to founding companies in the age of large language models, Harper shares his unconventional philosophy on building products, the importance of taste and discernment, and why the real threat to our future isn't AI, it's the lack of social infrastructure.

We dig into the "conviction collapse" of rapid AI iteration, the role of creativity in solving existential problems, and what it really means to be human in a world where machines can generate code, art, and even humor. Whether you're worried about AI taking your job or excited about what's possible, this episode challenges you to look inward at what you're really afraid of losing.

Topics covered: AI and coding, entrepreneurship, creativity vs. automation, social safety nets, environmental concerns, generational perspectives on the future, and finding joy in uncertain times.

More about Harper:
Harper's Website: https://harperreed.com/
Harper's Blog: https://harper.blog/
Harper on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harperreed
Harper on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Reed

Learn more about the show: https://www.cjfpodcast.com/

Follow us:
Creativity is the Job of the Future on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/creativity-is-the-job-of-the-future/
Doreen Lorenzo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doreenlorenzo/
Michael Baker LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mlchaelbaker/
Rebecca McInroy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccamcinroy

In this conversation with hosts Doreen Lorenzo and Michael Baker, Baratunde Thurston, creator of the Life with Machines podcast and host of PBS's America Outdoors, explains why creativity is the antidote to AI's "planet of averageness" and why the real danger isn't that robots will take over, it's that people will become robots through the industrialization of creative thought.

More about Baratunde:
Baratunde's Website: https://www.baratunde.com/
Baratunde on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baratunde/
Baratunde on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baratunde
Baratunde on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/baratunde
Baratunde on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@baratunde
Baratune's Newsletter: https://newsletter.baratunde.com/

Episode website:
Learn more about the show: https://www.cjfpodcast.com/

Follow us:
Creativity is the Job of the Future on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/creativity-is-the-job-of-the-future/
Doreen Lorenzo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doreenlorenzo/
Michael Baker LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mlchaelbaker/
Rebecca McInroy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccamcinroy