I’ve just come home from an AI conference in Mexico and I’m sitting with a feeling I wasn’t expecting…..

Severe AI anxiety.

And that’s uncomfortable to admit as someone who teaches tech for a living.

For the first time in over 20 years, I’m feeling proper, deep-seated, gut-turning imposter syndrome; and a sense of deep ego-discomfort.

FIRST thing (not the main thing):

There’s so much learning to do DAILY – just to even stay vaguely in the loop of AI – let alone in a state of ‘mastery’ of it.

I am ALREADY running at a million miles an hour keeping up with all the AI news, apps, hacks….

…..but it’s only going to keep getting faster and faster….

Is it realistic to attempt to keep up with it all?

BUT, THE REAL PAIN???:

But here is what is causing me the MOST amount of AI-induced discomfort….

The credentials that MADE me, no longer mean ANYTHING.

I am in the middle of complete identity-obsoletion and ego-death.

Let me explain:

I spent the past 20 YEARS being my little niche industry ‘dominator’ in Course tech and digital edu-marketing.

With the unfair advantage of my 20 years experience;

and my TWO wanky Degrees….

….most people simply couldn’t catch up with me, even if they tried.

EVEN if they went to uni for 7 years, learned what I did, and then spent 20 years building the expertise I did – they’d STILL be 27 YEARS BEHIND me.

My long-term commitment to my field made me UNBEATABLE.

Confident.

Way ahead of the pack at ALL times.

It felt great for my ego, and held me firmly as an industry leader that others rarely even bothered trying to compete with.

BUT NOW??!!!!!

Now, a 7-year-old with a wifi connection could literally OWN me overnight.

That’s not a joke.

That’s the new reality.

I sat with people last week who are brand new to business, JUST left their jobs WEEKS ago, and already have 7-figure businesses because of tech – without ANY of the agonising YEARS worth of work, study, pain and costs that I had to invest to do the same.

The entire world has already changed.

AI doesn’t care about credentials.

It doesn’t give a crap about your wanky degree.

It doesn’t care less about ‘experience’ or ‘background’, or even if you are a nice person.

It doesn’t matter whether you spent the last 50 years on the dole, flipping burgers in McDonalds, or in jail…..

It doesn’t matter if you are the Queen, or a monkey’s uncle.

ANYONE today can literally fire up their computer, watch a few YouTube videos, and launch a multi-million dollar business in a DAY, without even breaking a sweat or hiring a single person.

The VERY thing that has felt like my unfair and unbeatable advantage – my safety net – has now proven to be completely and utterly VOID and invalid in the last few weeks.

And that is a REALLY hard pill for my ego to swallow.

This industry moves so fast that the word “expert” almost feels dishonest now.

NOBODY can realistically use that word in the same way it meant in the past.

The only thing any of us can genuinely be from now on, is a LEARNER.

Permanently. Relentlessly. Publicly.

again

I’ve come home with this very real, very human awareness of my ‘conscious incompetence’, and the acknowledgement that I will likely never ever again in my lifetime, experience that feeling of being completely confident in my expertise as I did the past 20 years.

Because I KNOW how much I’ll NEVER know.

Because I know that NOW, staying relevant now means information-managing and permanently swallowing the fire-hose of updates is the new ‘normal’ for the rest of time.

Because today, the goalposts move DAILY, HOURLY…. not by the decade.

And now, ZERO of my old credentials can protect me from that.

We have ALL been ‘factory reset’ back to ‘beginner’.

ALL of us.

My ego is having a moment.

It’s basically saying, “Dang sis… run faster or you’re about to get beaten by a seven-year-old with a lobster bot.” [insert hilarious reference to ClawdBot / OpenClaw / Moltbot].

What is the silver lining?

BUT… before you all start drinking vodka for breakfast – here’s the MAGIC in this…

THIS MEANS THAT THE PLAYING FIELD IS NOW LEVEL FOR EVERYONE.

A start-up business with no budget can now compete with Fortune 500 companies.

Businesses no longer can compete on qualifications, credentials, year of experience…..

Today we compete on ACTION,

speed to learn,

speed to implement – and simply just having a big pair of balls with the willingness to be in the uncomfortable state of being a ‘LEARNER’ forever.

So if you’re sitting there thinking:

“I’m never going to keep up.”

“I’m not technical enough.”

“I feel stupid even trying.”

“I’m falling behind.”

You’re NOT dumb.

You’re NOT alone.

If people like me, who live and breathe this space, are feeling it too, then this isn’t a personal failure.

It’s a structural shift in how knowledge, power, and capability now work.

The game has changed.

The field is constantly being rebuilt.

And EVERYONE is a beginner again, whether they admit it or not.

The only real edge left isn’t knowing everything.

It’s being willing to keep learning, without letting shame or ego take you out of the race.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, unsettled, or quietly panicking about AI and tech right now, I see you.

I feel it too.

We’re all standing on rapidly moving ground.

And the bravest thing we can do is stay in the game anyway, and use AI to amplify who WE are.

And I will be showingyou both old-school AND modern methods of marketing your business (with AI and tech), in my upcoming AI MARKETING BOOTCAMP running both online and in-person next month.

Come along and join me online or in-person, and we can ALL learn, grow and navigate this fast-moving space TOGETHER: https://events.sarahcordiner.com/aimarketingbootcamp

Love ya xxx