Episode 203: Cheers to Understanding the Trade-Offs of

“Saving Time” with AI

What follows is a rough-edit of the episode, so please forgive typos and/or formatting errors.

All content is my own; requests to use this material – with proper citation – can be sent to [email protected] 

So, hello, my teacher friends!  Christina Whitlock here, your self-appointed Anytime Piano Teacher Friend. 

Today on the Beyond Measure Podcast, we continue our series of episodes on the 21st century obsession with the Fast-Track.  I’m offering my attempt at a balanced look at AI and the trade-offs we unknowingly make when using it. Regardless of your thoughts on AI technology, there is a little something for everyone today.

But first – to anyone new around here – Hi!  The Beyond Measure Podcast exists to provide a sense of camaraderie in this wild-yet-wonderful work we do. I’ve been teaching for almost 30 years, people, and I’ve learned this: We are one another’s greatest assets in this work. I consider conversations with my teacher friends and colleagues to be the number one contributor to my contentment in this profession. So here I am ready to offer a little camaraderie for you each week on your own time. 

OKAY, FRIENDS: Without further delay, let’s get on with the show!

So, last week’s episode looked at the overwhelming landscape of coaching programs and online offerings in our world today.  I told you last week, it was a topic I never planned on covering here on the podcast… but sometimes we change our minds, right?  Well, here I am again, just one week later, prepping to talk about ANOTHER topic I once considered off-limits for this show…. The conflicting world of AI. That’s artificial intelligence; I’m sure you’ve heard a thing or two about it this past year…

There is a lot of excitement over the possibilities of AI in pretty much every profession, including ourselves in Studio Music Teacher World. If you’re anything like me, you’re starting to feel a weird kind of pressure to use AI, whether you want to or not.  There’s almost an air of  “If you don’t use AI, you’re wasting time you could be spending on other things”.  And, okay, sure… I’m always up for examining how I spend my time… and that’s why I’m here today.  To process all of this myself, and to bring you along for the ride so you can decide what YOU think about all this.

There are a few things I need to explain before we get too deep into the heart of the matter today.

First of all, I am NOT against your using AI as a tool. So, if you love using it, don’t feel like I’m coming for you today.  

At the same time, I *do* have great concerns over its use and where the world is heading with it.  If I had my choice, I would opt to live in a world without AI. It feels destined to be one of those things that will ultimately lead to a little bit of good and a whole lot of harm. The way AI can assume the likeness of anyone: artist, actor, the guy next door… there’s a whole lot of trouble on the horizon and we’re just getting started.

…But this isn’t a show that attempts to predict the woes of the future.  I understand we live in a world where technology is constantly changing the workplace. AI is not going away. The best we can do is stay wise, stay aware, and adapt as necessary.

I see it like this:  My dad owned a small independent printing company when I was growing up. See, back in the day, if you needed business cards, company letter heads, branded envelopes, or any forms for your business, you didn’t have services like VistaPrint or especially anything like Canva where you could design your own materials and have it printed with a few clicks of the internet. You actually had to go to a printing company, work with a real live person to design your thing, and then they would print it (often on actual printing presses, not copy machines)!  

This was also true if you needed something like graduation invitations, menus for your restaurant, wedding programs, etc.  My dad ran a small but successful company doing just that.  I grew up observing the printing process and watching my dad work in the darkroom. It probably goes without saying, there was a REAL ART to all of that.  I spent many hours of my young life watching paper run through a printing press, where you ran paper through and layered one color at a time.  All of your blue ink would print on the page, then you would run those pages back through to get your reds… then your yellows… etc.  Every fraction of a millimeter counted. If that paper wasn’t fed back through the press in the exact right spot, the whole batch was ruined and you started again. I learned to be a connoisseur of paper in my young life: spotting different weights, different textures, and the many various shades of white available.

Well, there came a time when the landscape was clearly changing…and it changed QUICKLY.  Online printing options sprung up left and right, with sites like VistaPrint leading the way. When Michael and I were planning our wedding in 2006, I found invitations I loved online and my dad bent over backwards to try and replicate them; knowing fully well his equipment and scale were never going to be able to compete with these big online businesses. Similarly, I remember cashing in a promo at Vistaprint in 2007, where I got a huge number of full-color, beautifully-designed business cards for under $10.  (Does anyone remember when business cards were a necessity?) I will never forget the look on my dad’s face as he examined those new business cards.  He’d been printing me business cards since I was a teenager, but these were far more elaborate than anything his operation could produce, and at an enormous fraction of the price.

My dad did ultimately have to close his shop and find other printing-related work.  Of course, it wasn’t easy, but I think he recognized this is how industries change and evolve.

I tell you all of this FIRST because my dad would have turned 73 last week and I’m missing him.  But ALSO because I want you to understand I’m not some crotchety old person over here who is reluctant to change when it comes to all this AI business. 

I do feel deeply for those whose livelihoods are being threatened by these technological advances, but I’ve also lived this reality and understand this is how life evolves.

As someone who has always considered writing to be a strength, YES, it bugs me to know that I no longer get to differentiate myself by those skills alone.  I’ve always enjoyed playing with words to create a specific tone of voice.  Now anyone can throw out an AI prompt and say, “write a humorous approach to the following instruction” and they’ll get a solid starting point to work from.

It’s a little irritating, but it isn’t threatening my livelihood.  I am not at all concerned about my actual piano teaching being taken away by AI. Time will tell if I’m right or wrong, of course.

The writing stuff is more a matter of ego. I knew my strong writing skills set me apart from some of my peers. I can live with that becoming more of a level playing field.

BUT: I’m here to say today… the *process* of playing with words and crafting those specific tones? It means more than just the end-result. 

For example, I’ve often been someone my friends come to for help when they need to write a difficult email. I take a weird sense of pride from being able to craft the perfect reply to difficult situations. Over the years I have helped MANY teachers craft just the right verbiage for their unique communication needs.

And – while the intended goal IS to communicate whatever is needed, I believe it’s the process of crafting the words that has given me time to consider specific points of conflict and human nature.

You all know this is my sweet spot: Nicola Cantan once told me she thinks I’m really good at naming “the thing behind the thing”. In other words, I really try to look beyond surface level conflicts and figure out the true root of discord.  And truly – I think a lot of the insights you all seem to enjoy here on Beyond Measure stem from my obsession with crafting communications.

It’s a little bit of a chicken-vs.-egg problem… but really: Do I craft good communications because I understand people, or do I understand people because I’ve spent a LOT of time crafting communications?

I’m sure it’s a little of both, but I’m here to tell you – this series we’re in right now on exploring the fast-track culture we live in?  This is a really important point of consideration:

It’s fine to look for places where we can save time and save energy (I’m all for it!) … but what’s the trade-off?  What are we missing when we start eliminating the processes we’re used to using?

I have a system of principles for crafting written communications.  I talked all about it in episode 093, there’s a free download I’ve created for you to keep on your desk; it’s a whole thing, and I’m really proud of it.  I’ll link those resources in today’s shownotes.  But I’m here to tell you: Those principles came from a LOT of time spent thinking about the human condition and what matters most to us and how to play with words to achieve specific results.

And – it’s true that AI isn’t able to understand all of that YET.  But it’s only going to get smarter and faster and better from here.  Anyone writing it off because of its limitations at this stage isn’t thinking about how quickly we’re all training it by using it now.

So, it’s true: AI is quickly going to be able to develop more human-like responses.  And, again, there are times when it is a real lifesaver.

AI is also a content-generating machine. If you want to throw up a series of posts on social media, you no longer need to spend hours crafting your captions, or even thinking of topics to post about.  You can ask ChatGPT to name 10 struggles of piano students and it will shoot you back a pretty decent list.  Then you can craft your posts around that. It’s amazing!

You can have AI write your studio policies, plan your recital theme, create a tagline for your studio, and write ALL the copy you could ever need for your studio website and social media posts.  It can do so much for you.

…but I can’t help but wonder what self-discoveries you might miss in doing so. 

For example, crafting your studio policy is about establishing boundaries for your studio, but it also forces you to think about your overall studio vibe and what kinds of relationships you are creating with your business.  Does starting with an AI version and tweaking it appropriately still off the same level of introspection?  I’m not sure.

Here’s another: Have you ever heard me talk about how human beings care most about three things?  Their children, their money, and their time?  And how the bulk of all studio conflict stems from a threat to one or more of those things?  Putting that truth to words and sharing it with teachers has been an absolute game-changer. It’s a unifier: None of us – whether we’re teachers OR studio parents – want to feel like any of those things are in jeopardy.  Not our children, our money, or our time.  And when one of those things are threatened – yikes! Look out. It’s so universally true.

Well, guess what, friends:  I would have never put that together by using AI. I came at that universal truth because I decided to start writing a podcast. And WAY BACK in episode 11 of this show, I was writing an episode about believing the best of your studio parents and that’s when I stumbled on this idea. 

I can’t BEGIN to tell you the amount of insights I’ve gained into the teaching profession because I made the decision to launch this show.  I already thought I had things to say – obviously – but spending time every week for more than four years now putting my thoughts into words and then speaking those words into a microphone?  That process has been life-changing for me, and (I hope) for you as someone who listens to this show.

So when I hear advice being doled out to aspiring podcasters that they should use AI to generate podcast topics and general frameworks for their shows, I totally get it.  I spend a lot of time on this show, and I would love to fast-track some aspects of it.

At the same time…  it wouldn’t be the same show. And I wouldn’t be the same teacher or Anytime Piano Teacher Friend without spending the time mulling this content over inside my brain.

So – again – I’m not saying you shouldn’t use AI to deal with the aspects of your work that you don’t like. If you’re a really slow writer and you hate writing studio emails, by all means: go ahead.

But if you LIKE writing, and you ENJOY crafting the perfect sentence like I do?  I have to say this: There is no shame in NOT using AI.  This is your friendly reminder that you don’t have to optimize EVERY moment of your time.

Same with social media:  Can ChatGPT write your Instagram posts for you?  Of course it can.  But some of us (ahem) actually ENJOY writing our Instagram captions.  We LIKE writing facebook posts or whatever platforms we’re on.  And this fast-track world of AI makes it feel like I’m in the wrong, somehow, for writing my own content.

I write my weekly Piano Teacher Confessions e-letter, I write this show, and I write all my social media content.  There are a lot of business people who would shake their heads at me and tell me I’m wasting SO MUCH TIME doing those things every week. And, if I’m not careful, I start to believe it. 

But that’s just it: Life is FULL of things we can fast-track.  But if we fast-track everything, what do we have left?  We’re so busy finding ways to save time, we’re missing our actual lives.

It’s like cooking. For MANY generations, the preparation of meals has been an anchor in the rhythm of life. And yet, I’ll definitely testify that making meals feels like a burden a lot of the time.  It’s something we’re supposed to fast-track, right?  Especially piano teachers.  We have a very tenuous relationship with dinner.  Trying to feed our families on piano teacher schedules is ALWAYS challenging. Enter all the conveniences: InstantPots, Air Fryers, Slow Cookers, frozen meals, protein shakes, all the things, right?

Why are we so conditioned to think the preparation of a meal is something that needs to be fast-tracked? I don’t know about you, but chopping and sautéing vegetables feels like a luxury to me. It’s cathartic to me. I need to make it a higher priority because it brings me peace.

Why do you think the world fell in love with making sourdough bread during the pandemic?  I think there’s something to committing to a process that people really resonated with. There’s no rushing that stuff.  The joy is IN the process. The satisfaction of seeing something through multiple slow stages is INCREDIBLY counter-cultural, but pretty darn appealing, actually.

And – allow me to state the obvious application here – as musicians, we NEED to help our students find joy in the process because there is NO fast-track to mastering our instruments.  We NEED to help students embrace the marathon; not just the sprint.

I’m all for helping our students find joy in simple chord progressions. I love showing them cross-hand arpeggios that sound harder than they are. I want my students to know all those tricks and SIMPLE WAYS to sound impressive at the instrument.  

But I also want them to know the satisfaction that comes with learning a Bach Invention. Or really nailing the articulation in their Kuhlau Sonatina. We can do both, friends.  I know the classical repertoire is not for every student (or every teacher), but I think it’s for more of us than we consider. I believe it’s good for our students to have pieces that require some investment before they fully fall in love with them.  Not all the time, maybe not even MOST of the time… but I think there is a place in music study for pieces that are going to offer more of a slow burn.

That’s kind of the crux of this whole series on our 21st Century obsession with the Fast Track: We have to check our OWN mindsets and our OWN approaches to work so we can model the joy of the process to our students accordingly.

…so, to wrap up: By all means – fast-track the things that cause you frustration. I will ALWAYS advocate for teachers to spend their energy wisely. There’s only so much we can do. But I also hope I’m emboldening you to RESIST the temptation to seek a quick-fix for everything. We can do both. We can be efficient AND we can be contemplative. We can use technology to our advantage AND we can do some things the old-fashioned way.

You’re not foolish by spending your time on things that bring you joy.  You’re not wasting time by approaching a difficult situation slowly.  You’re not behind if you don’t utilize technology for every aspect of your life.

You’re doing great, my friends.

Sigh. Let’s have a quick toast, then we’ll celebrate our Teacher of the Week!

Studio music teacher friends: Today we link arms in solidarity with one another as we navigate a very conflicting landscape of developing technology.  While the tech itself is new, the process of discerning its evolving place in our lives is not.  May we be wise in the ways we use our time, knowing the goal is not to be productive every single moment, but instead, to build a life we are satisfied in, with a legacy we are proud to leave to future generations.  Cheers to you, my teacher friends! Here, here.

THIS WEEK’S Teacher Friend of the Week is a friend to many of you who frequent Facebook teacher groups online.  Mark Weathers, congratulations; you’re our Teacher Friend of the Week.  Mark Weathers is a terrific contributor to online discussions in many forums AND he consistently offers solid insights over in my Patreon Community. We share a love for supplemental repertoire, and I wanted to honor Mark today – not ONLY because he is a terrific teacher friend and Patreon Supporter – but because he has been sharing a lot more of his own playing on Facebook these days, and that’s something that always impresses me.  I want so desperately to share more of my own playing online, but I harbor a real fear of Mean People of the Internet that always holds me back.  That Mark Weathers, though… he’s showing up and doing the thing.  Congratulations, Mark, on being Teacher Friend of the Week!

As we wrap up today, let me give you a few reminders!  My weekly e-letter goes out on Thursdays, and it’s called Piano Teacher Confessions.  This week’s confession is called, “Instagram Isn’t Fun For Teachers Anymore” and feels like a logical progression from today’s conversation.  If you aren’t receiving the e-letter, make sure you get on the list!  You’ll find a link to subscribe, along with links to previous episodes like my Principles for Written Communications in today’s shownotes.  Head to ChristinaWhitlock.com/episode203 for all those details and more.  Yes, you can find the Written Communications download there, too.  ChristinaWhitlock.com/episode203.

Until next week, my friends! Onward and Upward, indeed.