Technology's Evolving and So Am I

Hey loves,

It's been a long time since we last spoke, and I know it’s been a while. University has been overwhelming. Life has been overwhelming. Final year stress, working, and navigating burnout that masquerades as productivity have stretched me in every direction. Blogging requires time - a substantial amount of time.

Everything became too much, and I needed a short break, but I’m working my way back.

The shege that life has shown me lately?

Yeah...crazy tings.

I’ve been a busy girl, an overwhelmed girl, a girl just trying to get by. But I’m here. I’m back. All is well. We thank God.

And funnily enough, what brought me back was not some deep epiphany or quiet moment of clarity, it was a reflection on something I used to swear was not my portion. Tech.

Let’s rewind to Year 9 when we could pick our subject options, and my dad FORCED me to take Computer Science. Mind you, I wanted to do Drama, and all my friends were doing that subject as well, so it felt incredibly isolating.

In his mind, a smart subject equals a smart girl, equals a good job, equals money. Just an African dad being an African dad, really.

At lunch they’d all be chuckling over something funny that happened in class whereas I was just standing there with my drop lip like 🧍🏿‍♀️ I’ve always had no idea what was happening whenever they’d talk about their drama classes and it sucked.

The class was confusing. My teacher was questionable, so I still left every lesson more baffled than before. I took nothing away from that subject apart from the fact that I should’ve done Drama, but it was insightful to test my limits and break my boundaries by trying something new.

Lately, something’s shifted. I’ve found myself experimenting with all these new creative tools and platforms, particularly Readymag. Stuff people rave about online, Notion templates, design software, digital art spaces, motion graphics, all sorts. I’ll go on YouTube to find tutorials, but the frustration builds so quickly that I end up just closing the tab. Even the TikTok girlies with the aesthetic tech tips can’t save me sometimes.

So what do I do?

I resort to chat - “How do I do this?”

“Can you help explain that?”

"What does X mean?"

By learning through trial, error and a bit of chaos, I’ve realised that innovation is often less about knowing everything, and more about being willing to get it wrong on the way to getting it right.

That’s the amusing thing. It’s not that AI and technology are going to resolve everything, but when I can’t think clearly, when my ideas are muddled, or I simply need a second pair of eyes, sometimes I’ll ask for help. It’s subtle. I’m not as deeply involved as my friend, who literally chats to ChatGPT as if it’s her bestie (if I speak too much, she’ll literally flog me). She gets it to write her stories and effectively provide her with every piece of advice imaginable, and she perceives its responses as a gift from the universe. I used to find it mad, but now I’m just like, fair enough. Everyone has their own way of creating and consuming.

So who am I to judge?

Even I’ve caught myself asking for clarity on political issues that I’ve skimmed headlines for but don’t fully understand. Or explaining concepts to me that I just can’t wrap my head around.  As much as I love English, linguistics and whatnot, sometimes I want to be able to digest information and texts in PLAIN English.

I’m actually just a girl.

Sometimes I need simplicity as well. I’m tired of already reading sophisticated lexis where I need to look up the definitions for every single word I come across.

When a topic feels too abstract or overwhelming, I’ve started shifting how I approach it. Instead of aimlessly Googling or overthinking how to gather the answer, I’ll ask Gemini or Chat more specific questions until it finally clicks. In doing so, I’m realising that problem-solving isn’t always about having the answers. Sometimes it’s just about knowing how to ask the right questions in the first place.

Oh - and their voice note feature as well. Love. It genuinely feels like I’m sending a VN to one of my homegirls.

I know AI can be helpful, but I also recognise that relying too heavily on it makes me lazy. I’m sure some of you can relate, right?

After all, as a writer, it starts with me. The magic lies in the mess of my own thoughts, in the ramblings of my notes app, in the way I perceive the world. That’s something AI simply cannot replicate.

Occasionally, I reflect on when I studied A-level Economics. The numbers, the graphs, and the theories that seemed clear for a mere five minutes before slipping from my mind mid-sentence. I tried. Yet, that subject reinforced my realisation that maths and STEM in general were never meant for me. I always knew I gravitated towards JUST words.

And honestly speaking, I’ve never looked back.

My family see me as their walking dictionary, so much so that my dad will have me draft his work emails because he knows I’ve really got it like that when it comes to writing 😮‍💨

But now, in a world that’s shifting more and more toward digital everything, I’m asking myself, is this what evolution looks like? Not this huge leap, but a quiet curiosity. A low-stakes experiment. A question here, a frustration there, and eventually a kind of familiarity with things I used to reject.

At times, I feel as though I’m switching off my brain, allowing apps to think for me and systems to organise what I could figure out on my own if I took the time. However, I then remember that evolution isn’t about abandoning who you are; it's about building on it. It's about trying, failing, adjusting, and trying again.

So yeah, technology is evolving. And so am I. Not all at once. Not with a full toolkit. But with a little more understanding than yesterday.

Maybe it’s not about mastering the tech. Maybe it’s about figuring out what you want to express, employing any tools at your disposal to convey it more loudly and clearly. In a way that matters.

That’s the kind of creator I’m trying to become, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.

I’m still figuring out where I stand with AI, but I know one thing: it’s here, and it’s shifting things quickly.

Whether it’s a blessing or a little daunting, I’d love to know your take on AI. What are your thoughts? Let’s gist!

With love and curiosity,

Just Jenni