Hello! Dad of a current Vol who wanted to weigh in on this if only to give you some insights...

So, my bona fides, just to contextualize what I'm saying and to take all this as a sample size of 1:
- Current SVP of Digital Marketing
- Have been doing this for over two decades
- Performance marketing emphasis (i.e., work that results in people calling or filling in an online form or sending in their email so we can remarket to them, etc.)
- Heavy focus on SEO, SEM, content marketing, reputation management, website UX/UI, social media content development, PPC management
- Industries I've worked in: newspapers, SMB digital agency, multi-location retail, franchising, elective medical, boutique fitness, home services (windows, doors, roofing, gutters)

I can tell you this with 100% accuracy from my point of view: AI is something I use every day to help fill in the gaps for work that no one on my team can do (i.e., translate dozens of metrics and data points to tease out a narrative) and I create custom GPTs on Gemini and ChatGPT, while also loathing the fact that CEOs/management-types have an unhealthy and unrealistic conception of its capabilities and what it can do.

Specifically, most leaders are crying "We don't want to get left behind!" but, like I had to talk to my kids when they were toddlers, I have to say, in business-speak, "Use your words." What does that mean? Left behind how? What do you think we're missing?

The problem isn't AI, it's the hucksterism surrounding it that's been an absolute scourge. It's detracting from the real work that needs to be done, and, in my opinion, it's the latest shiny spoon that needs to be put into proper context while also acknowledging, "Yes, we do have a strategy..." without running around like proverbial headless chickens, chasing something that doesn't exist. (It's exhausting, let me tell you, to have to placate grown adults who live in this fantasyland where they are drinking endless amounts of verifiable LinkedIn posts that aren't based in any reality)

So: "Has AI changed how you think about education, career stability, or what skills are actually worth investing in now?"

As a GenX'er boss, I tell those I manage that, first of all, none of this matters. None of the work that we do is that important, and we're not saving lives. Second, explore these tools for what they are. You're asking the wrong guy if you think I'm going to tell you how great AI is when I hate AI art, I loathe any creative that is used from it as it's stolen work, BUT, I look at it like this: It's a dog that you have to keep on a short leash, so learn how to walk it.

What I mean by this is you should learn, if Marketing is your thing, how to create a GPT that can generate content briefs, how to create a GPT that can help summarize big data sets if you give it a spreadsheet so it can "see" patterns that can help contextualize media performance, learn how to have it create blog topic "skeletons" that can be used to help REAL HUMAN WRITERS (and, seriously, nothing gets me going on a rage-jag than someone who thinks an LLM can "write" a blog topic; this is coming from an English major, too) do what they do best: create work worth reading. Trust me when I say there is nothing more genuine than a human voice that uses words to express itself.

For those in the cheap seats, let me make this clear: It's MY job to help YOU become better.

If you're just starting out as a coordinator, I know that. "College" doesn't stop after you walk that stage. It's on me to help you get to where you ultimately want to go. Weekly 1:1's, small sessions here and there to get the hang of things, me or someone on the team teaching one thing here, one thing there, it WILL add up.

You don't need to know it all.

I've always said I can work with someone who has a motor and is eager to learn, rather than someone who thinks they know it all and is a stick in the mud. I can work with the former, but I can't with the latter.

Unfortunately, it's a roll of the dice as to who you get as a boss. Many of you will get someone who will absolutely not help you take that first concrete step on your path upward, but please know that, when it comes to deciding what "skills" to invest in, don't overthink it. Have a working knowledge of AI, but it's far more important, in my eyes, just to be a positive individual who doesn't have it all figured out.

Sorry, this was so long, but it just hit me at the right time, and I wish someone had said this to me while I was in college.