Half-measures are for half-careers: why my sabbatical is all about generative AI

A couple weeks ago, I announced I'm taking a sabbatical. 

The only thing left to do was figure out how to use all that free time productively. 

The answer has been staring me in the face: Learn how to use AI creative tools like a ninja. And design the course myself. 

This DIY approach will either be brilliant or spectacularly inefficient. Either way, beats binge-watching Netflix.  

What I'm Actually Going to Do 

I'm calling it "Carl Loeb's AI Mastery Project." (Claude is workshopping something catchier. I told him I'm not above shameless alliteration.) 

This feels urgent. I started my career on electric typewriters. White-out was cutting-edge technology. Now I want to make ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, and Runway sing like Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat — my creativity and ideas, electrified and amplified.  

Way back when media went digital, I was already established in traditional advertising. I stayed comfortable. Big mistake. This time, I'm jumping in headfirst, with the gift of time enough to learn new ways to swim. 

What Readers Will Get Out of This 

I'll document everything: the wins, the spectacular failures, the prompts that work, the ones that produce nightmare fuel. I’ll write because I can't truly understand something until I've written about it. And, let’s face it, watching a copywriter from the typewriter era wrestle with AI should be mildly entertaining. 

My final exam: Create a complete brand campaign using only AI tools. I’ll aim for excellence, but I’ll settle for avoiding embarrassment. 

Let's Cause Some Trouble 

If you're as obsessed with this stuff as I am, let's connect. If you're just curious about whether this will work, follow along—I promise it won't be boring. 

And if you have ideas for what I should tackle first, or want to share your own AI experiments, hit me up. The best learning happens in community. 

Onward, with great anticipation (and mild imposter syndrome).