Eric shares his opinions about AI technology in a new and surprising way. Hopefully it serves as a wakeup call to learn skills, and embrace technology so it doesn't replace you.
[00:00] - Intro
[00:55] - I remember when AI came out
[03:03] - An uncertain future
[04:23] - AI recognizes AI
[06:24] - Truth and reality are blurred now
[07:26] - The Trades are the future
[09:07] - Humanity must prevail
[10:46] - Mass disruption
[12:05] - Automation is already here
[14:27] - Closing
183. My unsolicited opinions on the whole AI thing...
===
Eric Knight (2): Hi everybody and welcome back to the Rule Your Pool podcast. This is episode 183. A little bit different than what I normally talk about on here. Normally we talk about water chemistry, we make fun of Jarred, sing stupid songs, but in this case, this is a rather serious topic and I'm not that good at talking about serious things.
This episode is about artificial intelligence. And I feel it is important to give you my unsolicited opinion on this. Because AI is not just coming. It's already here, and it's not going away.
It's getting better by the second, and by orders of magnitude faster than humans ever could. I want to give this opinion because I have just begun using AI in earnest in the past week or so, thanks to an article that my uncle sent me. It changed my entire perspective and woke me up to what's coming. And at the end of this, I also have a surprise for you. So let's get into it.
[00:00:55] I remember when AI came out
---
Eric Knight (2): I remember the first time somebody told me about ChatGPT. And you could ask it stuff, and it said a lot of stuff, and it was, honestly, mostly right. But there were things that were wrong. AI started as a tool and it was a much faster tool to get answers than a search engine. And that changed how the internet worked. Because most of what I did at Orenda was creating content that people would search, and building the app and creating this podcast. And all of that has changed now because AI can crawl and index and research and it never forgets. It can look at the entire internet in the blink of an eye. And like I said, it doesn't forget. These large language models are pretty incredible.
Well now, it's no longer just a tool. It is replacing everyday tasks. It is doing them better than we can. Not everything of course, but most knowledge work. Research, writing, graphic design, business strategy, advice, personal growth, confidence boosting, just someone to talk to, rapid education so much more. You can even write out a personal workout plan and give it your results at the end of the workout, and it will adapt them over time and get you to whatever physical goal you want. I've tried it. And well, actually I did not try it. A friend of mine tried it and I did some of his workouts. And I have to be honest with you, they're really good. I've been lifting weights consistently since 2005. And I have to tell you, it was smart. It was giving a lot of good advice and technique, tips and everything. I was shocked at just how good the AI workout plan was. And it cost nothing. I mean, if you're paying for these models, what is it, $20 a month?
[00:03:03] An uncertain future
---
Eric Knight (2): That's incredible. The amount of change that's coming to our world is... nobody even knows. Nobody can tell exactly what it's going to do. I can foresee incredible breakthroughs in research, in medicine, and there will be a lot of world changing good that can come of this. But to be honest, it's kind of scary. And this is my unsolicited opinion on this because I have learned a lot in the last week and I've talked to a whole bunch of people. I've watched a bunch of videos, listened to a bunch of podcasts that are experts in AI.
A few things to know. AI doesn't forget things. We do. AI does not make emotional decisions. We do. AI does not take sick days. We do. AI does not get distracted. We do. AI does not waiver in motivation and productivity. We do. Inherently, that is a huge advantage in most knowledge work. Now it may not know what to do, but if you give it the right prompt, it will do. It may not understand the market and the nuances of a relationship, but if you prompt it right, AI will be there. And it will work faster than you can possibly type.
[00:04:23] AI recognizes AI
---
Eric Knight (2): The good news, is AI knows how to identify AI, so it's not searching websites that are AI created. It already knows that was created by AI. So it is designed to feed on human knowledge. That's how it grows. So there's still value in having knowledge and educating yourself and being an expert in what you do. AI can repeat it, but it can't invent it. That's not what it does. And I've learned that. I, I thought it just made things up. I thought it kind of synthesized and created its own thing. It actually seems to amalgamate what it perceives as expert opinions based on the credibility of the source. And it can identify if it was human created.
It's amazing. It can reference, oh, was this quoted from someone else? Is this a reliable thing? And there's also little, I don't know if there are pixels or something in there that AI can recognize if a paragraph was written by AI. It's insane. I'm sure there are ways around it, and there's probably an entire industry of marketing agencies that already know this.
AI is becoming as essential as learning how to type was when I was growing up in school. And I remember when Microsoft Word and Excel were skills that you would put on a resume. But nowadays it's expected from everyone. That same reality will be true for understanding how to use AI, prompt it effectively, organize your work, produce an amazing amount of content and value quickly and efficiently. And accurately.
You're going to need to show your work? Well, AI will cite it for you. It is incredibly accurate now. The article that I read likened the initial releases of these large language models like ChatGPT, to being further back in history, in AI time, then we are to the great pyramids being built in Egypt over 4,000 years ago. Like we're closer to the ancient Egyptians than AI today is to what it was when it came out. It is going that exponentially faster. That's insane.
[00:06:24] Truth and reality are blurred now
---
Eric Knight (2): Put it this way. In all my years at Orenda, I would say about 70% of my job can be done better and faster by AI today. The 30% I don't think is going to be replaced by AI. and that's where I now focus my efforts. Because I don't see those skills being replaced by a computer. Humans want to talk to humans. You can't shake hands with AI. Building relationships, speaking in public, going in backyards, serving customers, picking up the phone, and actually having a meaningful conversation with memories that you've had in the past, not just a chat bot. That's not going to go away. Can you make a living on those skills?
How do you add value in what you do? If you are a pool pro listening to this, hear me now. Automation, AI, robotics, they're here. And they're only advancing. And they are advancing very quickly. This is a cautionary tale because there are a lot of people being displaced in knowledge jobs right now, and they are looking for jobs that are insulated from AI.
[00:07:26] The Trades are the future
---
Eric Knight (2): Lo and behold, they're looking at the trades. We have had several students already showing up to Watershape classes. Those students were displaced by AI. Marketers, writers, content creators, lawyers, and a whole bunch of developers. Software people, computer people. IT people. Their jobs are gone now. And it's only getting started.
So they need to do something that's a tangible skill, interacting with humans and using their hands. Who would've thought? When I was growing up, everybody was told, you have to go to college. That's the only path to prosperity. Not anymore. Personally, I don't believe that it ever was. I think skills are what matter. In job interviews, I've never asked somebody what their grade point average was. I want to know what can you do? What are you good at? Give me some references, give me some examples of what you can do. I care about skills. Most employers do. And skills are the future, I believe.
Now, there was a time when AI could do deep fakes and decently replicate a speaker's voice, and that's scary. Like I said, it blurs the line. Even politicians have shown AI generated photos on the floor of the Senate and House to make their points. I remember somebody did it after Hurricane Helene with this girl sitting in a rowboat with big teary eyes. Recently with a protest in Minneapolis, there was a like an ice agent that didn't even have a head because it was an AI generated image and these things were shown on the floor of Congress. If you don't look closely, they are very believable. It's scary. It's very easy to fall for this stuff and you don't realize it's fake.
[00:09:07] Humanity must prevail
---
Eric Knight (2): Truth is becoming blurred, but human relationships are not designed to distinguish that. Our brains have not evolved to handle deep fakes. We understand body language. We can pick up on, you know, the look and feel of somebody's reaction and stuff. But deep fakes are a completely different thing. AI is far advanced for our brain to comprehend in some ways. Now, with just basic AI tools, I can illustrate a concept in my mind in just minutes or even seconds rather than an hour or two that it used to take. I would use Canva, I would try to sketch it out. I have it in my mind. I'm trying to show, for instance, how does CYA protect chlorine from sunlight? And I had this, this, um. Raft with three handles on it and an umbrella and the sun coming down on it, and then chlorine getting burned up that wasn't protected by the umbrella.
You know, conceptual stuff like that. I can just prompt that now and it will be created. Or very close to it. And it's going to be good, like really good. Now, when you scroll social media, I would say a hefty majority of content on there has at least some AI involved. Because you can produce so much. You can simply write a script and it can pump out 10 pieces of content a day. People click on it, people read it, the algorithm gets fed, and there's entire accounts that are nothing but one person that knows how to prompt AI building a huge following on social media, and they're not even real. It's crazy.
[00:10:46] Mass Disruption
---
Eric Knight (2): I'm concerned that this is more than what the Industrial Revolution did, or what the tractor did to farming. Or what the calculator did to hand math, like long division and multiplication tables. AI is so much more. And it's so much faster than anything else. I'm nervous for what it's going to do to the economy. A lot of people are going to be out of work until they find something that AI will not replace. That's, you know, worth doing that people are willing to pay for.
But here's what I know. In the past year at Watershape University, I have met several new students who have come into our industry to attend Watershape University classes. They came from tech jobs, law firms, marketing, journalism, and other knowledge work positions, and they were displaced by AI months ago. They know what's here. And they are moving towards tangible skills. And let me put it another way. They're looking for a trade. If you know me, I came to Watershape University for a few reasons, but one of the main reasons was because I want this industry to be recognized as a desirable trade worth pursuing. I want to be in the same conversation as plumbers, HVAC technicians, electricians, et cetera.
[00:12:05] Automation is already here
---
Eric Knight (2): AI can do many things, but I just don't see it physically replacing a pump, emptying a skimmer basket, winterizing pools, blowing out the lines, plastering a pool. You get what I'm saying? That being said, a lot of the service route can be automated.
Robotic pool cleaners, chemical automation, mechanical automation. Automation systems can even control valves now, where you can redirect water. All from your phone. Lights, everything. And it can also do real-time chemistry testing. Not for everything, but for a lot of it. It's here. This technology is here. It's not going away. If anything, it's advancing at a pace that is increasing. So if you are behind the curve, train up, or you're going to get left behind. I'm not trying to scare you, I'm trying to warn you. It's real. It is absolutely real. And I have met enough people now that know very painfully that it's real.
So for you, pool pros listening and anybody listening, I have two messages. This is my unsolicited opinion. Number one. Embrace AI and these advances in technology, or you will lose. It's not if, it's when. It's here. It's not going away. Number two. Train up. Because these displaced workers from other industries? They're already starting to discover there's prosperity in the pool business. And they are conditioned for learning, thinking ahead, and they are hungry. They are here because they need to be here. They can't go back to their jobs. They're gone. If you spent years of your life getting an expensive degree from college or even a grad degree to get a high aptitude job, and it was automated, because that job is now obsolete, it doesn't exist anymore? Not just where you worked, but everywhere? Your whole category is getting wiped out? How would you feel? What would you do? If something that disruptive did that to the pool service trade, what would you do? Thankfully, we are in a service trade. A lot of these things require actual hands-on knowledge and work. And that's why we teach hands-on at Watershape. We're going to teach you how to do this.
[00:14:27] Closing
---
Eric Knight (2): Anyway. I want to wrap up with a surprise for you. If you think that AI is something that you can recognize and you just won't fall for it. You look at social media and say, ah, yeah, that's fake, that's AI generated, Jarred, excuse me.
Guess what? This entire episode has been produced by AI. I typed out the script and the AI agent read it in my voice. I read several sentences into it. It captured how my voice speaks, my intonation in different variations, and I asked a prompt to describe some things that are happening with AI as it relates to the swimming pool business.
And I got this script. I have modified it to make it more personalized for you to speak more like I would speak. Act accordingly.
Boom.
Hey everybody, this has been episode 183 of the Rule Your Pool podcast. This is actually me. This is Eric, the human. If you thought that was scary, that whole episode being AI, you're right! It's crazy.
But I want you to know I did that to make a point. I truly value the human connection that we have together. I love it when you come introduce yourself to me at the shows and at classes. It means the world to me that you listen to this and it adds value to you. I will not use AI again on this podcast. That's my commitment to you. I don't want to do that. I value, like I said, the human connection that we have. I think there's going to be less and less of that moving forward. I want you to know that what I say on this show has been thought, like actually thought through by me and by experts that I consult with.
I just did this episode as a cautionary tale. I was trying to prove a point. Change is here, and I hope you are ready to surf this wave and not get drowned by it. You need to embrace software, automation, new technology, or it's going to replace you. And I don't want to see that happen.
So you have a few options. You can stick your head in the sand, you could keep doing what you're doing and say, no, no, no, I'm fine. I'm fine. Okay. No, you might be fine at what you do. That's great. And I, I bet for a while you will be. Until somebody better comes in who's hungrier and knows things that you don't. I have several friends of mine who are in this industry. Good customers. They refuse to take a class. I don't need those. They never even took the classes with Orenda that were free. I trained people for nine years. They wouldn't even take my class. And these are friends of mine. They're going to get left behind because there are people coming into this, you, you should meet them. They come into this industry thinking differently.
They're here to win. Not just because they have to make a living. They see prosperity in this industry, and they are here to win. Some of these folks are already making incredible backyard projects a reality, and they've never built a pool before.
They came to Watershape University, they're learning the trade. They recognize very quickly how to do it. They figured it out, and they've done it. It's amazing. Now that's just pool builders. Pool service? Same thing. So what can you do? Well, obviously I'm with Watershape University now. Shameless plug. Learn.
You want to see what the hype is about? You want to see why our classes are thousands of dollars for two days? They're nothing like a seminar. Why do you think they sell out? Why do you think there's so much hype about these classes? Well, if you took one, you would get it. I sometimes, I, you know, I remember at Orenda I got frustrated when people were like, ah, I don't need that class.
I'm like, man, we're doing this for free. And people would still reject education and then they would call when they had the same problems. And I, I said to several customers, were you not paying attention in class? They didn't go to class. Well, why don't you just use the app? Well, I don't need that. I've done it my way forever.
Okay. You know, I'm not telling you how to do your job, but the information's available is what I'm getting at. There is a better way. Learn up. Come see what the hype is about. Between this podcast and all the tools that we built when I was with Orenda and now Watershape University. And there's other stuff in the industry too, by the way. I want to help you remain irreplaceable in this business. But I can only do that if you want to be. I hope this hits home for you and I hope to see you at some classes. This has been episode 183 of The Rule Your Pool Podcast. Talk soon.