Issue #38: In Loving Memory of Expertise as the Differentiator
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​ 💌 From the Editor’s DeskWelcome back to Work In Progmess, where we process the modern world the only way we know how: with sarcasm, tenderness, and a light administrative panic. Last week, ChatGPT turned 3 years old. We are celebrating the birthday of the tool that has quietly rewritten homework, job applications, email etiquette, and the phrase “just Google it” into something much more alarming. And with that anniversary comes a reality check: the world our students are walking into is not the world we were trained for. It used to be that knowledge was scarce. Expertise was the flex. If you knew the answer, you had leverage. Now the answer is everywhere. Learning is everywhere. AI can generate a response in seconds. Expertise is still valuable, but it is no longer the main character. So we’re gathering today for a short ceremony. — The Mess 📰The Obituary Section🕯️ In Loving Memory of Expertise as the Differentiator (1994 to 2025)Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to honor a fallen hero: Knowing things. Expertise served us well. It gave us confidence. It got people promoted. It made you the person everyone looked for when the printer stopped working and someone needed a spreadsheet rescued from the depths. Expertise gave us a reason to say, “Actually…” at dinner parties. It was dependable. It was respected. It was, for a long time, the whole game. But then something changed. ChatGPT turned 3. Now knowledge lives in everyone’s pocket. Learning can happen anywhere. AI can produce a polished response in seconds, complete with bullet points, an upbeat tone, and a conclusion that makes you sound like you have your life together. Experts call this progress. Others call it the moment the education system realized it has been preparing kids to win trivia night. Let us be clear. Expertise is not dead. We still want surgeons who are good at surgery. We still want teachers who know how to teach. We still want engineers who can build bridges that do not collapse. But expertise is no longer the differentiator it used to be. It is the baseline. It is the cover charge. It is what gets you into the room. So what stands out now? Not your ability to find information. Not your ability to repeat it. Not your ability to sound smart on command. AI can do those things. The differentiator now is what AI cannot automate. Character.​ The qualities that make people trust you. Because in a world where everyone can generate a perfect answer, the person who can do the following becomes rare again:
That is the new currency. So today we don’t bury expertise. We simply acknowledge its new role. Expertise is no longer the spotlight. It is the stage. And character is the performance. Rest in peace, “expertise as the differentiator.” We just cannot build the future on you alone. ​ 📩Until Next Time…Forward this to an educator who is trying to prepare students for a world that keeps changing mid-semester. Or send it to a leader who still believes the smartest person automatically deserves the microphone. And if you are feeling overwhelmed by all of this, here’s your reminder: the future is not asking students to know everything. It is asking them to become someone. — The Progmess Editorial Team 🔗 Bitter End If you’re thinking about what students actually need to thrive now, we wrote something that gets right to the point. 🧩 Is your Portrait of a Graduate missing this critical piece?​ It’s a quick read, and it reinforces the same truth we keep bumping into: the answer is easy to find. The character to use it well is the hard part. ​ Find us on all the Socials! |
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