Is AI Disrupting Higher Ed? How Do I Balance Talent With Passion? and Scott’s Approach to Charitable Giving

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1:13Welcome to the PropG Pod's Office Hours. This is the part of the show where we answer questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship, and whatever else is on your mind. In last week's Office Hours, we answered your questions surrounding luxury commerce, the rise of the remote husband, and time management. So what you've seen is effectively everyone's been crowded out. This goes to a broader issue in that I believe almost every industry is turning into an oligopoly. you will lose some professional trajectory. You will lose some opportunity to develop relationships that will pay off later in life by being remote.

1:45I just think to myself, okay, is this something I need to do or I have to do or something I want to do, and then I eliminate everything else. Today, we'll answer your questions about AI and higher education, the intersection of passion and talent, and charitable giving. So with that, first question.

2:05Hi, Scott. I work in college student affairs, and I've been both curious and concerned about the rise of AI and how it's changing higher education as an industry. OpenAI just announced their new ChatGPT-EDU product, which feels like a play to legitimize and maybe tame the untamed Wild West aspect of AI. How do you think a product like ChatGPT-EDU will influence the rest of edtech, which you criticized in the past? Thanks for all the content. I don't always understand what you're talking about, but I always learn something. Okay. So a thoughtful question, and let's be clear. I don't always understand what I'm saying.

2:44So look, ChatGPT-EDU is a version of ChatGPT built on its faster GPT-4O model. God, talk about some shitty branding. Specifically for universities, according to OpenAI, ChatGPT-EDU allows universities to responsibly deploy AI to students. Yeah, that's what they're worried about. Faculty, researchers, and campus operations. OpenAI has claimed it's available at an affordable rate for universities. It's smart. Almost every software and media company or even Apple has discounted rates for universities because that is an audience that will represent a fairly significant lifetime value, in terms of economics and influence.

3:25ChatGPT-EDU also offers reliable administrative controls, robust data security and high usage limits. Examples of ways you can use Chet GPT-EDU per OpenAI's release include personalized tutoring for students, write grant applications, assist professors with grading. Several universities, including ASU, University of Oxford, a bunch of them, UT Austin, have been key players in shaping Chet GPT-EDU. Look, I like this. I don't think you can keep technology in a bottle across any sector and also in education. I remember that when I was in business school, there was a little bit of a debate around whether we should be allowed to use spellcheck.

4:03I just think you should give your students, you want your students to be critical thinkers, you want them to be just ninja warriors, and you want to essentially train them to use every tool such that they are better than your average bearer, it can develop differentiation, the currency and the margin that commands in the marketplace such that they can do good things, lead the world, save the dolphins, and mostly, in my view, create economic security for them and their families. I think that's why most people pursue higher education, other than the beer and football, which is why I went. But I think that we want to give them as many tools as possible.

4:35I tell my students to use ChatGPT to the extent they want. If something comes back anodyne and bad, and I believe I can notice something. Whenever I get really pissed off at my team and I get shit that I think is just mediocre, I say, what, did ChatGPT write this? Because it comes back like a computer wrote it, I find. I find it's a great tool for brainstorming. So, for example, if I'm looking for, I don't know, characteristics of income inequality in Northern Europe versus Southern Europe, it'll write something up for me and it'll give me examples. And I don't like most of them and I don't like the way it frames it, but it'll give me two or three things I haven't thought of before.

5:11I use it for brainstorming. Will it get to the point where it can write in the voice of, I don't know, a Maureen Dowd or a J.D. Sollinger? Probably. But I think it's still a long way from there. I think we let kids have at it and raise the standards, have them expect higher quality work for them. I think this makes a lot of sense. Now, as it relates to higher ed, you know, everyone's saying Harvard's out of business bullshit. Harvard will go from 55 ,000 applicants to 45 ,000. And keep in mind, they're a corrupt institution. It's really a hedge fund just offering classes, and they'll still just let in 1 ,500 kids.

5:42So instead of admitting 5%, they'll admit 6%. The elite schools aren't in the business of educating. We're in the business of certifying. Our value add is our brand and our admissions department, which pre-screens people who are and only lets in freakishly remarkable people. So if you could have a button on LinkedIn that said freakishly remarkable, it would give you graduates of elite colleges or children of rich people, which, quite frankly, in our economy are good people to hire oftentimes. Sometimes or a lot of times they're shitheads, but they have a lot of contacts. So anyways, I'm not even going to go into the whole NEPA bullshit.

6:17but you effectively have elite colleges are going to be fine. Technology is not going to disrupt them. The higher, the online ed space, which I am in has been a shit show. I got this wrong. It has not disrupted traditional education. Those brands are the strongest brands in the world. They say Apple or Coca-Cola are the strongest brands in the world. Bullshit. Harvard, MIT, and Stanford are the strongest brands in the world. No one's giving Apple$200 million to put their name on the side of a building on the Cupertino campus. These brands are really fortresses. Now, are they going to be disrupted?

6:47Is there an overdue reckoning? Yeah, it's not going to come from students or applicants, though. It's going to come from donors. These organizations have built these insatiable beasts around all their bullshit of people, administrators, thoughtful people, FIPS, formerly important people, hanging out as the vice chancellor of something before they run for Senate and lose again. And the reckoning is going to come from alumni who say, fuck this, I am no longer going to fund the zombie apocalypse of useful idiots on campuses and pull their funding, which will require a modification or reduction in their or rethinking of their cost structure.

7:24They will turn to AI to relieve some teachers of their administrative tasks. If they were smart, they would cut 10, 20, 30 percent of the cost right now. When the hell were we asked to morph from being centers of excellence to social engineers? No one ever asked us to do that. But anyway, where you're going to see the biggest impact of AI is leveling the playing field across lower middle income homes. What do I mean by that? I engage in this. My kid has tutors. Actually, he just told us he doesn't want a tutor. And we're like, okay. And then we realize that he's a kid, which means he's stupid.

7:55And as I think about this, I'm going to force him to have continuous math tutor. But tutors are expensive. And the reason they're expensive is they're effective. And they help your kid get better grades, help them do better on tests. What this will be, I think the biggest impact this is going to have on primary education is that ChatGPT and Anthropic will be able to offer what are pretty reasonable facsimiles of$150 an hour tutor for nearly free. Now, you're going to have to monitor your kid more closely, but I think they're going to be able to zero in on where the kid is weak, where he or she is strong, and level them up even if they don't have wealthy parents.

8:31I think that's a great thing. Unfortunately, it will also lead to great inflation and take the bar even higher. I sometimes worry about my 16-year-old in the sense that you want your kid to have just the right amount of stress. You don't want them to be totally carefree and walking or sleepwalking through life as I was at 16 and not give a shit. But at the same time, you don't want them to be part of the anxious generation. You want them to have just enough amount of stress. But on the whole, on the whole, CHAC-GPT isn't gonna change the elite institutions. They have brands that are almost impenetrable.

9:01It will provide an opportunity for an overdue look at cost cutting at an administrative level. And I think the good part will be that it'll push tutorial, or the tutorial industrial complex will bring the cost down and offer it up for middle-class and low-income homes. Thank you so much for the thoughtful question. Question number two. Hey Scott, I'm a big fan of the show and your latest book. I'm 24 and working in advertising as a visual effects artist at a small but successful studio in New York. I graduated two years ago with a degree in visual effects and chose a job in advertising over some lesser paying jobs in film and TV.

9:35I've just read the chapter of your book about finding your talent, and I'm trying to identify where I draw the line between my own talent and passion. I feel very lucky that I've begun a career in visual effects, and I like to think that I've got at least some talent for it, given my ability to leverage my portfolio for jobs so far. Call it a fear of burnout or diminishing passion or both, but I'm wondering if you have any advice for young people whose passion and talent seem to be awkwardly blurred together. How do you go about separating them to avoid, as you said in the book, letting the work spoil the passion?

10:03And is there a way of balancing both on a schedule you can't control? So Ryan, if you're doing something you're good at and you like, maybe you don't even love it at this point, it's hard to find something you love at a young age. Because generally at a young age, it means you're doing the shit work. You're doing the work that no one else wants to do. You're editing stuff. You're writing the copy. Your bosses get to show up late, but you don't. I do that a lot, and it's something I hate about myself. And my New Year's resolution is the same every year. Be on time for stuff, and I'm not. I don't know if it's because I like the rush of being late, or I'm just a narcissist.

10:36But anyways, I don't know how I got here. It sounds to me like you're kind of where you should be, and that is you're getting good at something and ask yourself, could I be great at it? And if you can be great at it, what I can promise you with near certainty or assure you or claim with near certainty, I guess, I guess a promise says 100 % certainty, is that if you become great at it, you're going to become increasingly passionate about it. Because the accoutrements of being passionate about something, the camaraderie, the economic security, the prestige, the achievement, the ability, or just the recognition when you produce something great with a team of people, it feels really good.

11:12I think it'll make you passionate about whatever that is. I think passion comes from mastery. So, I mean, a couple of things. One, look at the space you're in and think, am I learning a lot? Am I learning a lot at this company? Do I have senior level sponsorship? Is the firm doing well? Is it a good culture? Do they pay me fairly? Is there a path? Has someone taken an irrational interest or at least a real interest in my future and is coaching me? All of these things are important to ask yourself at a specific organization. Separate that, the organizational components to do I like this field? Am I good at it?

11:48could I be great at it? And it strikes me that your industry is going to go through tremendous disruption. A friend of mine has invested in an Indian special effects company that uses technology to bring down the cost. I think they did a lot of the special effects for Dune, and instead of it costing 10 million, it costs, you know, three or four or seven. I don't know what it is. But your ability as a young person, your brain is more agile, more neuroplastic, whatever the term is, to absorb new technologies and then apply them or cut a swath between technology and creativity and be great at visual effects and be more efficient, I think that is a fantastic seat.

12:22So I just be careful. I think a lot of young people think, well, I'm not loving my job or I find it difficult. Well, there's a word for that work. And I don't care how romantic the industry is. If you're going to be good at something and really, I think there's just a ton of stress and work involved. And it sounds to me like you found a good seat for yourself. So how do you balance both? I don't know, boss. I hate the word balance. I think at the age of 24, this is what I would do if I were you and I were blessed with a career that it sounds like you're pretty good at and that is growing, or I think visual effects are going to grow.

12:55A couple, just one quick side note, design media for a smaller screen. You don't want to be in the movie effects business. The movie business is going to get smaller and smaller. The TV business is going to be fine. It's going to be a huge business, but it's not going to grow. but if you can be great at capturing people's imagination with effects or figure out a way to do things for the small screen, specifically the phone, that is champagne and cocaine. Anyways, be the guy that really understands the intersection between creativity, storytelling, and technology. But it sounds to me, Ryan, like you're in a pretty good seat.

13:26And also, don't be hard on yourself. Recognize that at the age of 24, the majority of people have no fucking idea what they want to do. You know what I was doing at 24? I was deciding not to stay in investment banking and moving back in with my mom. And I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. And then when my best friend and my girlfriend said they were applying to business school, I'm like, oh, I'll apply to business school then. With a 2.27 GPA from UCLA, I applied to business school. Go figure, Ryan. Definitely be that guy who understands the intersection of technology, creativity, and storytelling.

13:55Thanks for the question, Ryan. We have one quick break before our final question. Stay with us.

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16:04Welcome back. Question number three. Hey, Scott. This is Brian Pollan from South Florida. Just finished Algebra for Wealth. Loved it. Ended up sending it to both my 30-year-old kids with a couple of notations on things they need to specifically look at. But as a 65-year-old business owner, I'll tell you a lot of stuff I learned there. Love the show and also love Pivot. Just listen to your last episode talking about giving and the wonderful women in this world that are doing it so kind-hearted and obviously so generously. So my question is around that. You're a charitable giver. You've mentioned that as well.

16:38And I also believe that there's no point in kicking the stuff forward until the time I go and giving it out there and working the world. Tell me a little bit about how you go about making decisions with regards to the types of giving that you've done now that you've kind of put away your chunk of change that's going to support you for the balance of your life. Again, love the show. Looking forward to your answer. Brant, thanks for the question. First off, you sound like just such an impressive man. You have a great voice, by the way. You could have a second career in podcasting. And this is what I call the mother of all good problems, right?

17:13Trying to figure out how to give away money and what to do about it. It's interesting. saying, it is a bigger issue than people think. UBS, I used to get invited every year to this UBS generational wealth conference. And basically it was a conference for rich kids. So think of the wealthiest names in the world. You get to meet their kids and I would talk about living a meaningful life. I talk a little bit about brands and technology, and then they would spend an entire day on giving, which I thought I didn't participate in it, but I thought that was interesting because obviously wealthy people are very philanthropic.

17:47I do think, and just to revisit what you reference, I do think there's a virus in the United States of hoarding. And that is, the problem with the number is if you get to 10 million, you can imagine 30 million, then you can imagine 100 million. And because your life has consistently gotten better along that scale as you increase your wealth, you think that that scale is linear. And that if you can get from 10 to 30 million, your life's going to get three times as good. And what Daniel Kahneman has shot is that the difference between zero and 1 million is huge. The difference between 1 and 10 million is modest, and the difference between 10 and 50 million is really negligible.

18:22So once you hit your number, and a decent way to calculate your number if you want to be really conservative is figure out how much money you need every year. What is your burn? Say you need a half a million dollars to live really well a year, then times it by 25. That means you would need 12 and a half million dollars in savings and income. Now, anything above that, I think you could start thinking about giving away or spending or going above that half a million dollars a year. I'm a big spender. I like it. Hey, big spender. I'm indulgent. I'm materialistic. I love, I think I'm good at spending money.

18:56You know what I hate? I hate it when people who have money can't spend their money well. I can't tell you, speaking of Florida, how many really wealthy people I know When I go into their house, I'm like, oh, my God. I mean, fountains and stairways and like shitty modern art and pictures of themselves everywhere. Oh, God. I'm like, Jesus Christ. Can someone show these people how to spend their fucking money? That's not what you asked. How do I approach giving? I try to put it to something I'm passionate about and I think I know something about and that I want to change. So my big thing is how men are struggling.

19:28I have recently made a gift of, I think, about$14 or$15 million to the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA for the development of programming that's more vocational, that would have no entrance requirements, not a traditional four-year degree, that appeals to younger people, mostly younger men, who no longer have access to wood shop, metal shop, and auto shop, but are thinking about specialty nursing or construction or plumbing or electric. and can foot or can find skills that foot to this enormous gap in the real economy, and that is the trades sector. The trade sector is going to lose five people over the next 10 years for every two that go into it, which means the cost of renovating and having soapstone installed in your kitchen, which I just had, exceptionally expensive.

20:15So those people are going to have incredible pricing power. Probably the biggest opportunity in our economy right now is, in fact, to buy a trades business, a small business, if you will. Anyway, I'm passionate about that. I really like the new chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, Rich Lance. He's a wonderful guy. I've known him for 20 years. So I trust him to deploy the Capitol prudently and effectively. So that's kind of my thing. The other thing I'm passionate about as it relates to young men is teen depression. I've given a bunch of money to the Jed Foundation. Is that fair?

20:47I don't know. Give it a couple hundred or 500 grand to them. And then just a personal relationship. I have a personal relationship with a kid named Scott Harrison that I've known for 25 years, and he is building wells in sub-Saharan Africa. Do I have a passion around water or people in Africa? No. I'd probably rather give money to Americans. I know if that sounds jingoistic, trust your instincts. But I'm so inspired by Scott and him and his personal story that I feel a friendship, a kinship with him. So I want to be supportive of his amazing charity, Charity Water. And he runs it so well that I'm confident my money will be put to good use.

21:22So how do I do it? I find things that foot to my passions are things I think are really important that I have a specific interest in. but let me finish where I started. This is a great problem. Congratulations on your success. And I think it's very American to be thinking the way you're thinking. That's all for this episode. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehours at proptomedia.com. Again, that's officehours at proptomedia.com.