AI is changing school, college admissions, and the workforce faster than most parents and students realize. In this episode, I sit down with Ryan Kiick (CEO of Revolution Prep) to talk about the skills that won’t get automated, and how to use AI without becoming dependent on it.

We get into the real danger of offloading thinking, why the most powerful way to use AI is to generate better questions (not just better answers), what happens to writing and the college essay in a post-ChatGPT world, and why executive functioning plus deep learning may be the biggest moat students can build.

If you’re a student, parent, or educator trying to stay sharp in the age of AI, this one is for you.

Guest: Ryan Kiick — CEO, Revolution Prep Find Ryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryankiick/

🔗 Support This Podcast by Checking Out Our Sponsors:

Zapier: Build Your Own AI Agent Today, Without Coding Link: https://bit.ly/4pI8Su2

Test Prep Gurus: https://www.prepgurus.com Instagram: @TestPrepGurus

🕒 Timestamps (Chapters): 00:00 – Cold plunges and bad circadian rhythms 01:10 – Justin’s background and why economics needs better communication 03:30 – Why AI is the biggest economic shift of our lifetimes 06:00 – From brawn to brains: how AI changes the equation 09:00 – The white-collar revolution: why AI threatens cognitive work 11:30 – Will AI drive wage stagnation for white-collar jobs? 12:50 – VCRs, substitutes, and complements: lessons for AI 14:50 – The NickBot 2000 thought experiment — who owns the robot? 17:00 – Why AI’s real issue is ownership, not capability 19:30 – The DeepMind vs. Meta contrast: altruism vs. profit 21:30 – The monopoly danger: what happens if one company wins 24:00 – Why competition (not regulation) is saving us, and Nvidia 25:54 – Sponsor: Zapier 28:17 – Are AI stocks a bubble—or just early? 31:00 – Dot-com lessons and humility in predictions 33:30 – $700 trillion in potential AI value? An economist’s math 38:00 – The global AI race: U.S., China, and everyone else 41:00 – Government policy, laissez-faire, and missing debates 45:00 – Manipulation, bias, and invisible influence in LLMs 46:00 – Education’s blind spot: universities aren’t adapting fast enough 52:00 – Why “prompting” is the new literacy 55:00 – How ChatGPT changes testing, grading, and learning 58:00 – Reinventing the Oxford tutorial—powered by AI 01:00:30 – Liberal arts, critical thinking, and the skills that endure 01:02:00 – “vibe coding” for the next generation 01:06:30 – How to future-proof your career in the age of AI 01:09:00 – Daily AI experiment challenge 01:10:30 – Final thoughts: curiosity, courage, and lifelong learning

🔗 Support This Podcast by Checking Out Our Sponsor: Test Prep Gurus website: https://www.prepgurus.com Instagram: @TestPrepGurus

👉 Build your own AI Agent with Zapier (opens the builder with the prompt pre-loaded): https://bit.ly/4hH5JaE

Connect with The Nick Standlea Show: YouTube: @TheNickStandleaShow Podcast Website: https://nickshow.podbean.com/ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nick-standlea-podcast/id1700331903 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0YqBBneFsKtQ6Y0ArP5CXJ RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/nickshow/feed.xml

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Ask questions, Don't accept the status quo, And be curious.