AI is taking my job. But I’m hiring it.

It’s pretty wild how fast the Artificial Intelligence space is transforming.

6 months ago I said; “AI won’t take my job, someone using AI will.”

Today I’m telling a different story.

AI is in fact taking my job.

But I’m the one hiring it.

And you should too.

Why I want to be replaced

So I clearly do not want to lose my job. I quite enjoy it. And I really enjoy getting paid. And so do my bills. Its a win-win.

But I want more freedom in my workday. I hate being tied to the desk or even worse; the office. I want to be able to work how I want, when I want, where I want. (Within reason of course)

Being able to see my family and friends, practice my hobbies and explore my interests is important to me. I’m 100% sure its important to you too.

And if I can replace a portion of my work with an artificial version, that makes it even better.

There are also some things about my work that I hate.

Firstly, I don’t want to spend my time on repetitive tasks that don’t move the needle.

I call this busywork. Like most jobs, mine involves a lot of busywork. Email follow-ups. Status updates. Calendar wrangling. Drafting similar docs again and again. Logging things. Copying things. Formatting things. Asking people “Is that done yet?”.

I don’t want to spend the productive years of my life on those.

It’s not hard work, but it is constant. And it gets in the way of the work I actually care about—like solving real problems, making smart decisions, and thinking creatively.

I realized I was spending too much time doing and not enough time directing. I wasn’t being lazy. I was being buried. I started looking at AI not just as a tool, but as a teammate.

How I’m doing it

I started by keeping a list.

Every time I thought, “I wish someone else could do this for me,” I wrote it down. And then I asked, “Could AI do this instead?”

Most of the time, the answer was yes.

No, I can’t hire an assistant. But I can “hire” AI. And I do.

Here’s how:

Level 1: I use AI inside the apps I already work in

Most tools I use daily now have some AI baked in—Google Docs, Sheets, Notion, Outlook. I’ve started to lean on those features.

In Sheets, I use AI to write formulas or clean up data. In Notion, I let it draft and summarize meeting notes. In Docs, I have it rephrase content or check tone. In Outlook, I’ve tested Copilot to prep responses or summarize threads I don’t have time to read fully.

It’s like having a silent partner working next to me across all my tabs.

Level 2: I simply ask ChatGPT

I treat it like a smart, fast intern. One that’s always available.

Open up the app and ask it a question. Ask it to do something.

I ask it to rewrite emails, summarize reports, draft outlines, generate ideas, or even help troubleshoot problems. If I give it the right context, it often gives me something 80% done. That’s usually more than enough.

To start.

And it does save me time.

While my human-only colleague takes 30 minutes to draft an email to management, AI-and-Me takes only 15.

Sometimes I use it to clarify my thinking. I write a messy paragraph and ask it to clean it up. Or I explain a vague idea and ask it to sharpen it.

Here’s a power tip: Sometimes I don’t even type; I speak. Another few minutes saved.

The key is to talk to it like you’d talk to a colleague. Be specific. Give context. Ask follow-ups. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough to be useful, fast.

Level 3: Build small automations

Not everything needs a chatbot. Sometimes I just need to connect the dots between tools.

I use tools like Apple Shortcuts to automate repetitive tasks. I also have spreadsheets with macros that pull data from my financial system and update a monthly dashboard. My emails also get filed into folders automatically based on subject lines.

These are small wins, they are pretty simple, but they add up. And they don’t require coding. I’m not technical, but with a little trial and error, I’ve automated a surprising number of tasks that used to eat up my day.

Level 4: I experiment with custom tools

Lately I’ve been trying tools like Lovable to build lightweight apps tailored to how I work. No devs. No long roadmaps. Just quick tools that let me plug in AI where I need it most.

The best part, you talk to it like a real human, or any other AI chat interface you might be familiar with.

For example, I made a project management tool that runs in my browser. It has the functionality I need and much of the functionality of more established tools.

Think Jira, Asana, Monday, Basecamp etc.

But none of the bloatware that honestly; nobody uses!

Plus, I made it so it’s free.

(If you want it for free too, send me a message)

And whenever I think of new features, I simply add them.

This kind of thing used to take months of learning code or thousands of dollars paying developers. Now it takes minutes.

Level 5: Agent-level Artificial Intelligence

I haven’t reached this level yet.

(Mostly because it requires subscriptions to AI apps)

But at this level the AI teammate really becomes empowered. It can perform tasks for you without much assistance. It can visit websites, write replies and send them off to clients, schedule meetings and ask other humans questions.

The functionality is still evolving but in a year the scope I’m describing here will seem like primitive technology.

Why it works

I don’t think I’m cutting corners. It’s about clearing space.

AI doesn’t make my job irrelevant. It makes my time more valuable. It takes the low-leverage tasks off my plate so I can focus on the work that actually requires judgment, creativity, and experience.

It also forces me to think more clearly. If I want AI to help, I have to explain what I’m doing. That alone makes me work smarter.

The tech is still evolving. Some tools are rough. Some outputs are off. Oversight matters. I still check everything. I still make the decisions. But I’m not doing everything by hand anymore.

And that’s the point.

AI is taking my job; the boring parts.

And I’m letting it.

Because I’d rather spend my time thinking, creating, and leading than formatting, copying, and chasing follow-ups.

If that’s what “getting replaced” looks like, I’m in.

Just don’t take my salary. I need that.

Caution (!!): Some of the more old-school managers out there are not on-board with this AI revolution quite yet. They would rather have you staring at a screen for 9 hours per day. Even if you could do that same work in 4 hours, plus wash your dishes and do the laundry. Test their tolerance slowly. It might not be a good idea to suddenly announce that you are getting the robots to do your work.