Articles

When I was in my 30s, I lost my job. What I found instead changed everything. At the time, we had a five-year-old, a two-year-old, and another one on the way.The company I worked for got acquired. The new company didn’t need two Human Resource IT Managers. They gave...

AI has changed how much I can get done—and how quickly I can do it. Not in small, incremental ways. In big ones. The kind that make you pause and ask an uncomfortable question: If the tool did that much of the work, what was my role?

That’s when Imposter Ivan showed up. He’s loud. He’s confident. And he’s quick to remind you that maybe the AI is smarter than you are. But here’s what I’ve learned after months of real-world experimentation: AI doesn’t replace creativity—it removes friction. And those two things are not the same.

This post isn’t about hype or shortcuts. It’s about how to use AI without handing over the steering wheel—and why keeping the human element front and center is the difference between leverage and regret.

This post shares a real, behind-the-scenes example of how AI can be used to remove friction, save time, and turn everyday moments into usable work—without losing the human part. Using a simple 15-minute test and an unexpected singing puppy, it shows what “using AI well” actually looks like in real life.

“Why are you doing this?” — Fearful Freddy“It’s a waste of time!” — Nasty Negative Nelly“Stay in your lane!” — Cynical Cedric (That’s the chickens talking.) It started as a joke. Could I make my puppy talk using AI? I know that sounds obvious. But every time I post a...

Phil Barth’s 30 Days of AI Experiments begins with a buzzing AirPod, six chatbots, and one brave AI that finally says what the others wouldn’t. Turns out, AI has chickens too—and a thing or two to teach us about truthful communication.

Eight events. Fourteen days. A dozen squawking chickens.
When stress showed up shouting “keep working,” I did the opposite: I rested. I spent time with family, got a full night’s sleep (yes, even with a puppy), and woke up to a flood of great ideas—enough to drown the stress.

In this post, I share how choosing rest over hustle helped me perform at my best—and how you can beat stress with rest, too.

I’ve talked about starting a podcast for years. April 24, 2021: I bought three Kindle books on podcasting. I read half of one. Not because it was bad — that half was actually pretty good. I just didn’t take action. November 27, 2022: Black Friday. Bought another...