Wake Up, Look Up

Hello everybody, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, will slackers survive AI? It's prompted by an article in the Wall Street Journal recently called it's time to start tooting your own horn at work. Basically, the premise goes like this. AI is tightening job markets. Companies are laying people off right and left because they're realizing that AI can do what it was taking a human to do. In fact, companies like Amazon, which recently went through a layoff, are now asking staff to document their top accomplishments and key contributions, basically saying, you need to justify your job here, because if you can't point to individual significance, then we'll just replace you with a chatbot who can do what you do. And so the article was pushing, employees to have things like Yay folders or Smile files. This is their language, not mine. Basically, documents where you're tracking all the things that you've accomplished so that at performance reviews or in layoff season, you can actually say, hey, if you let me go, this is what you're losing. You have to actually, according to the article, substantiate your contributions to protect yourself from an AI layoff. Let me take a little bit of a different spin. I don't know if you should keep a Yay folder or a Smile file. If you do keep one, don't name it that. but let me take a little bit of a different angle. And that is to say this, a reckoning for laziness in the American workplace would be a good thing. You know, companies are not charitable. They don't exist to give people a job out of the kindness of their heart. Companies exist. Organizations exist to accomplish a purpose. A person has a job at an organization or a company insomuch as they contribute to that purpose. And it's right and fair for companies to ask, are you actually doing that? Look, Ecclesiastes 10:18 says this. Through laziness, the rafters sag because of idle hands, the house leaks. And I think CEOs and entrepreneurs, leaders are saying, you know what? Maybe the laziness of my employees is causing my rafters to sag. Maybe the idle hands of my workers is making our organization's house leak. And if companies can replace human workers who are lazy with technology, they will. And to be frank, they. They probably should. I don't think you need a Smile file or a Yay folder. I think what you need is to hear God tell you in 1 Corinthians 10:31, whatever you do do to the glory of God, are you attacking your work with enthusiasm? Are you showing up each day saying, hey, someone employs me and they employed me for a reason, and my responsibility is to meet that reason and even to exceed it to the glory of God and to my good listen. Humans who come to work ready to bring value are never ultimately replaceable. Our creativity, our ingenuity, our relational equity, these are things that are inherently and distinctly human. And I don't care how many robots Elon Musk creates, he's never going to replace what makes us made in the image of God. But lazy humans are replaceable. And I understand it could be easy to demonize artificial intelligence or technology to demonize your employer as cold and uncaring. That's a lot easier than looking in the mirror and saying, you know what? I've been on autopilot and I need to shake out of that. So I don't care what you do for work. Blue collar, white collar, here's a challenge for you. Commit yourself for one month to showing up each day to bring value. Not to perform a checklist, not to. Not to do the bare minimum. But show up each day saying, I've come to make this organization, to make this company better, to bring impact impact to the people around me, impact to the bottom line, impact to the project. Here's what I guarantee after one month of that, you will feel seen, you will feel valued, you will feel productive, and, and you won't be terminated. Listen, this is a challenge. Artificial intelligence is saying, if you show up and you coast, you might go, the time for coasting is over. But you know what? It's been over. Jesus saved us into lives of meaning and purpose, and Christians should be leading the way saying, I don't need a Yay folder or a Smile file. Everyone around me sees the value I bring because I come each day to be valuable. Here's a wake up check. Show up and attack your work with enthusiasm. Not just because God will be glorified and the company will be benefited and you will feel productive because if you don't, they'll just replace you with a chatbot. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Pastor Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!