My AI Journey: "How It Started…" vs. "How It’s Going…"

I am a very anxious person with a strong case of FOMO (I am sure I mentioned it already). Currently, I’m in the middle of a career shift, which adds another layer of uncertainty. I find myself staring at the job market, overwhelmed, unsure of which direction to take to get back on track quickly.

We really are living in challenging times. The cyber revolution, the rapid rise of AI, and the constant influx of new tools and software—it’s like a mental workout for my already frazzled brain. Don’t get me wrong, I love the technology that makes learning faster and more accessible, but realising that AI and robotics might displace 85 million jobs by 2025 gives me serious pause.

How will I carve out a place for myself in such a competitive job market?

As a former tax lawyer, I can already see how many tasks I used to perform could easily be automated. While my former colleagues may not feel threatened yet, I’ve decided it’s time to get ahead of the curve.

So, exactly two weeks ago, I officially committed—right here, in public—to start upskilling in AI. And not just casually: I’m going all-in, teaching myself from scratch.

How’s it going so far? Well… not bad, but not great either.

How It Started…

I kicked things off with sky-high motivation and a brainstorming session with ChatGPT. Together, we mapped out a plan to help me become “above-average” as an AI user.

The plan was overwhelming at first—a clear reality check of how little I knew. To avoid getting paralysed by the enormity of the task, we (me and ChatGPT) broke it into a manageable, mid-ambitious, self-paced learning schedule.

Goal: To complete this journey by the end of January.

For November, I’m focusing on Phase 1: Foundation Building. By the end of the month, I am supposed to achieve these outcomes:

• A solid grasp of AI concepts and how generative AI (like ChatGPT) works (Week 1).

• Comfort crafting basic prompts and understanding how tweaks impact results (Week 2).

• The ability to write complex prompts for tailored, nuanced responses (Week 3).

• Familiarity with multiple AI tools and workflows (Week 4).

Sounds really good.

How It’s Going…

Now, as I wrap up Week 2, here’s the honest truth: self-learning without strict deadlines or a boss breathing down your neck is hard. At the end of the day, It’s just me, trying to piece the puzzle together.

Week 1: Foundation

I started strong with Andrew Ng’s “AI for Everyone” course on Coursera. The course generally is free (or you can pay $49 for a certificate, which I opted for to hold myself accountable).

So far, I’ve finished Week 2 and passed the quizzes, so I am on track.

My take: The course is beginner-friendly. If, like me, you jumped into using AI tools without understanding the technology behind them, this course provides some sort of structure and clarity.

• Week 1 focuses on the global impact of AI (spoiler: it’s both fascinating and terrifying). You’ll also learn key terms like Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI), Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), supervised learning, and neural networks.

• Week 2 introduces theoretical AI projects, helping you understand how to conceptualise them.

While the course doesn’t dive deep into practical application, it’s given me confidence in the basics and improved my vocabulary for potential AI discussions (for what it’s worth…)

Week 2: Exploring ChatGPT

Another Week 1 task was to explore OpenAI’s documentation on ChatGPT. I dove into (ok, I just read about) concepts like tokens, prompts, and API usage. ChatGPT suggested exercises like:

• Understanding key concepts.

• Practicing with OpenAI’s Playground.

• Testing my knowledge by creating Python scripts or sending API requests with tools like Postman.

While I did some reading, I honestly admit, didn’t dive into hands-on experiments. I do not want to embarrass myself but at the moment writing Python scripts feels like a stretch. Maybe I’ll tackle it with a dedicated course in the future.

Why I’m Sharing This

So, why write about all this?

First, it’s about accountability. Declaring my journey publicly keeps me motivated to push through, even on days when progress feels slow.

Second, I really want to inspire people like me—those who transitioned from analogue to digital, who still remember FM radio and old-school TV (yes, the kind with long, untargeted, and often annoying commercials)—to believe that no matter what life throws at us, we’ll find a way to adapt. But more than just ‘going with the flow,’ I want to encourage you (or us!) to understand the flow, recognise its direction, and choose the right wave to ride—so you don’t end up struggling to stay afloat too soon.

So, to my three loyal readers: I hope this post encourages you to try something new, even if it scares you (or if not new... cause it was not totally new to me, then at least not t be scared to look at it from a different perspective).

P.S. The illustration for this post? I made it with DALL-E. Pretty cool, right?

Let me know what you think!