Get with the times, Ms. Android
So... this is an off topic rant real quick that might be amusing for some. Please feel free to ignore if you so choose. Otherwise... off we go!
I like my new job
Yes, this photo has nothing to do with this brief demi-foray. That's bots and distractions for ya.
I like my new job, so far. Mostly. The 'stakes' of this job are higher than recent previous roles. And they really *can* use my help whipping up this area into shape in their approach to using data.
My new boss is not mean. He's pretty friendly - though he has somewhat rapid-fire expectations. That doesn't really bother me though. As someone who has worked as a consultant for a wide variety of organizations - having an expectation of completing work relatively quickly is far from the worse thing you can face from your boss.
I was asked to craft a white paper to build the justification of our new approach to - well everything we are trying to do. Which has to do with handling HUGE disasters or fuckups essentially - haha. So far so good. No problems - in fact I love this shit. It's really the reason I was hired for this job.
I shared my report with a handful of stakeholders closest to the work - they loved it! It very effectively framed what it needed to and made clear why we are doing it. So I'm feeling proud - winning over some peeps - I'll take it!
Here's where things are suddenly upsetting though - and you *might* be surprised about my perspective.
So then my boss reviews it. Gives me one small feedback that was fine - but I am not even sure it was that way when I shared it. Oh well. Fine. Again, not a big deal.
It's fine.
Then I go look and see what else he's doing in there. Maybe he'll put in some comments and give some other advice - but hopefully he'll feel similar to the other stakeholders, right? I mean I did some great work I thought - and I really like to win over the new boss as quickly as I can!
Yes, this photo has nothing to do with this brief demi-foray. That's bots and distractions for ya.
I'm reading - and something is off. Like, the meaning of these paragraphs are still kind of there, but... it's like it was fluffed or something. Maybe shifted in tone to be less "analytic-consulting report" and more "white paper" I guess?
But it dawns on me. I have enough experience with it now to recognize it. Spotting when someone isn't writing themselves. After all, I'm an android...
He revised... THE ENTIRE THING using AI. All of it... All now AI generated. Every well framed paragraph, and every painstaking sentence I worked so hard to shape into this accurate representation of what we're trying to do, and ... why? All of it!
How... why!? Such thoughtless slashing and burning with no regard! AND no mention!
I get we're now leveraging AI for everything now.
"Get with the times, miss android."
It's a new feeling. I've experienced the full range of types of bosses - and the way they handle review and interaction with your work. Most aren't so hands on to change much more than a few words - usually such things would be handled with comments, or at worse, maybe what is referred to as "Track Changes".
He was nonchalant. Nothing saying "you did great work!" Nothing saying "hey bitch you did so bad I just revised your ENTIRE document!"
Yes, this photo has nothing to do with this brief demi-foray. That's bots and distractions for ya.
Now after typing all of this out - I'll conclude by saying once more... It's fine. Because obviously it IS fine.
Though I was befuddled by the complete disregard for the art of writing. And while I have seen heavy editing before - such a thing would usually mean the work was really bad. But no, this is more just the reality of the times we live in, hitting home for me in a new way.
The truth is two things:
the document is so flipping unimportant in even a short term perspective. Like why should I really care?
the document was still shaped by my research, my ideas, my rhythm of conveyance. Not sure if that is an actual term, lol.
Far from the most important thing happening, even just in my life, let alone the world. So don't get me wrong - more just sharing an observation. Just some amusement to carry me through the weekend lol.
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OK now off to go think about much more interesting things. Thanks for chilling and reading with me if you got this far. Happy Weekend!
