https://www.12-6advisors.com/blog daily 1.0 2026-06-04 https://www.12-6advisors.com/blog/navigating-ai-discussions monthly 0.5 2026-06-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69c3fdd123d3ca568564dcf4/725b3f1f-e5d9-4cd7-842c-6d983a3bc0a0/alan.desktop.may2026.jpg Blog - Navigating AI Discussions. - Navigating AI Discussions My son thinks it crossed a line. Maybe he's right. Here's my thinking. This desk photo shows where I used AI to create an image. A cartoon about co-leadership (last week's post). Amazed, it took just ONE prompt. My son, an IT professional in his late 30s, and I talked about it. He said: "Dad, Ugh. Hate it. AI imaging is essentially theft. It learns from artists' work without permission or comp." He's not wrong. AI concerns are legitimate. AI image generators ingest billions of images to learn style, composition, and technique. Most artists who created the source images weren't compensated. That's a real issue for the creative industry. But here's where I pushed back. Every human illustrator learned the same way. They studied masters. Absorbed styles. Replicated techniques. Monet influenced Renoir. Renoir influenced Cézanne. Nobody sent a royalty check. The C-G-Am-F chord progression is in thousands of hit songs. Nobody owns it. Nobody ever did. AI does the same thing humans do — absorbs, synthesizes, creates. The difference is speed and scale. Not principle. The historical pattern is clear. Every disruptive technology triggers the same response: The displaced industry resists. Regulation lags. New economic models eventually emerge. If you were a travel agent 30 years ago (I was), the internet would feel existential. If you're an illustrator today, AI can understandably feel threatening. History shows humanity adapts. But it doesn't feel good at the time. Where my son and I agree. Humanity is going to have to figure out compensation structures for AI training data. That's a legitimate policy conversation. Not a reason to stop innovation. The same technology my son questions may produce miracle cures for cancers like Multiple Myeloma (I have). Treatments from recent research have already markedly improved mortality rates. The Misha device (I have) is an alternative to knee replacement. Full weight-bearing was possible immediately after surgery. I'm a direct AI beneficiary. Twice. The leadership application. The best leaders don't dismiss the concern. They don't surrender to it either. They classify accurately. Then navigate accordingly. Focus on the future. Learn from the past. My son made a fair point. I made a fair counterpoint. We're both still thinking about it. That's probably where we should land (pun intended). Where are you or your company landing on AI creative tools? p.s. My son built my computer from his older gaming systems. Ironically, that may fit the theme of this post better than I realized. We're still discussing AI… but we agree his mom's cooking is 4 decades awesome. p.p.s. Catching up on post-holiday news this morning, I heard Pope Leo and leaders at Anthropic publicly wrestling with many of these same AI questions. Feels like my son and I aren’t alone on this one. https://www.12-6advisors.com/blog/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-tf593 monthly 0.5 2026-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69c3fdd123d3ca568564dcf4/1774639390834-SNYA0CH1TECZ6P0X72X7/moonrise.jpg Blog - Moonrise: Indian Valley Lake - Moonrise on Indian Valley Lake https://www.12-6advisors.com/blog/blog-post-title-two-t5my5-k4xmd-j29a9 monthly 0.5 2026-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69c3fdd123d3ca568564dcf4/bca14bb7-ec2c-4531-aab8-2c35f61ff104/HawkOwlMarLinkedIn.jpg Blog - Two Hunters. Same Perch. - Two Hunters. Hawk and Owl Same Perch. Coming soon https://www.12-6advisors.com/blog/blog-post-title-three-y3peb-4lwnz-76x8t monthly 0.5 2026-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69c3fdd123d3ca568564dcf4/0a8fa5be-72f9-4536-a282-23df189aad86/MarchLinkedInball.goal.jpg Blog - Playground Ball Theory - Grandson Goal not my goal. Coming Soon https://www.12-6advisors.com/blog/blog-post-title-four-lr658-tcthp-cxdab monthly 0.5 2026-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69c3fdd123d3ca568564dcf4/588469ae-2680-48f9-b7c8-14749eadb3eb/LinkedIn.Complex.Engine.With12.6CEO.jpg Blog - Cars are Complex. - Coming Soon Coming Soon https://www.12-6advisors.com/contact daily 0.75 2026-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69c3fdd123d3ca568564dcf4/ca66094c-b938-469c-9f02-be7559955d65/12-6.Leadership.KeyPoints.jpg