Unconscious competence

July 20, 2025

If you asked me two years ago if I would ever write a blog post about the wonderful attributes of an automated Bot, I would have said you were crazy.

But like everyone else, I am being inundated with multiple “personal Bots” (a wonderful oxymoron) which are invading my space every day…and I hate to admit that I am excited about the possibilities (but always with some level of suspicion).

Why do I hate admitting my excitement?

Because it makes me a hypocrite.

Well, partially.

The goal in writing these weekly emails is to engage with you (person to person) …and I pride myself on responding to every email I receive (whether you give me good news or bad news)…and that will always be part of my playbook.

No autoresponders.

And certainly not responding as a Bot.

Yes, these emails go out in bulk…but they are responded to by a human (i.e. me).

Respond to this email.

I dare you. 🙂

However, after going deep with “Jay-I” (Jay Abraham’s “super Bot/mirror/clone” and asking him anything in text, audio or video, 24/7) I got more interested in using this technology for good rather than evil…and inside my business.

I am not a hypocrite when it comes to educating myself.

I readily admit that I am not an expert in AI, BOTS, clones…but I am a student of anything and everything that can help my mastermind members, clients, colleagues and friends.

And especially as it pertains to direct response marketing.

This post is based on my experience as an observer and user of what comes into my Inbox and what I hear from the experts I find in my travels.

It is not comprehensive and may even seem a little naive and simplistic to some of you.

I’ll chalk that up to my wonder with the world around me.

Hopefully it is still meaningful to all.

While Jay’s Bot is a legacy play—a way to live forever by compiling and sharing the equivalent of something like 700,000 “pages” of content (with some monetization of course)—I am seeing many other applications and models which might fit into my need to stay up close and personal with my audiences…and taking advantage of what is currently available to me.

I know I am not the first one to do this—far from it—but I am not the last either.

I applaud Jay for jumping into the deep end using this technology because there are few people in the marketing industry with more to share than him. It’s time for me to jump too, following Jay’s lead.

I know first mover advantage is the thing for entrepreneurs…but I am always more patient…and now I am getting antsy (i.e. more excited).

I had been soured on the technology initially when I asked ChatGPT a series of questions to get more clarity on my superpowers…starting with:

“Can you share some extremely deep and profound insights about my psyche and mind—things I would not otherwise be able to identify or see… and perhaps some truths I may not want to hear?”

If you did a similar exercise during the “Stone Age of ChatGPT” (two years ago?) you would get fortune cookie type answers, totally unsatisfying, and not usable.

But we had to start somewhere.

Maybe you had a different experience. I was more unsophisticated than most.

But I already knew that ChatGPT and other AI writing tools (Jasper, Claude et. al) were being used by A-List copywriters…not to write the copy for them…but to save them time to get to a workable draft where they could then perform their magic.

I’ve been using all the AI tools for that purpose for over a year. I know I am not an innovator but I have not been idle either.

More recently someone put me on their “Mentor Council” inside a course which uses AI to nail expertise and voice…and I must admit that I perked up when I read what it said about me…not because I was impressed…but because it felt like it was the tip of an iceberg:

Brian Kurtz—Relationship Capital Master

“You don’t need a big list to grow—you need a real one. Serve those 20 like they’re 200. Make your next five relationships unforgettable.”

That’s AI doing the talking while I was doing the walking. 🙂

Going deeper, I had exposure to various “mirrors” (AI personas) that some results leaders were creating…then it was on to more sophisticated copywriting Bots that went far beyond “write this copy in the style of Gene Schwartz” …and then most recently my adventures with Jay-I (which came with a lifetime of knowledge loaded into the Bot, making calling it a “Bot” an insult).

That’s why I called it a Bot/mirror/clone.

Or now, a “Non-Bot Bot.”

And when one of the architects of one of those “Non-Bot Bots” told me that my 44+ years of content could be loaded into something I could use not just for legacy, but as a utility to teach and grow, I was all ears.

Jay-I is already doing that but I was too busy being a kid in a candy store with Jay’s creation to see the application for me and my business.

Blind spot number one in this post…with many more to come. Read on.

Of course, I am aware I have a lot less content than the results leaders who are doing this sort of thing (especially Jay) …so I had some skepticism that I had enough “stuff” to be dangerous.

But when I was told that I could be a “KPI” (and that’s not a “Key Performance Indicator”) I became more curious.

It’s a different take on “KPI” as defined by Daniel Priestly, a bestselling author, entrepreneur and scaling expert:

Key Person of Influence

Now…I have no expectations of becoming an influencer on TikTok…but seeing a chunk (and only a small percentage) of my content compiled and sorted—and then having AI have a crack at it, creating an “MRI of my thinking patterns”—or what this architect calls a “Cognitive Fingerprint Analysis”—is mind-blowing.

Just as we have unique fingerprints on our hands, we have distinctive patterns in how we process information, make decisions, and create value for others.

If you had asked me before seeing the output, I would have said I have six “go to” themes in my work…repeats and reruns from my experience…which are applicable to today’s marketing landscape almost universally…and less than earth shattering.

Basically, my “Clicks on a Dial” which I have written about previously.

But what came back was so much more…much of which I was unable to see previously…with precision and clarity that was uncanny.

A prompt-directed form of “Blind Spot Pattern Analysis.”

I’m just throwing around cool terms to impress you now. 🙂

Of course, there were “patterns I recognized” (my “signature moves,” documented with specific examples to prove the analysis based on actual behavior, not assumptions).

But then there was a “Hidden Operating System” (i.e. blind spots) which is where it got interesting.

And we all have one of these systems.

Kind of like a unique mechanism (or multiple mechanisms) embedded in our brains …or in the words of the prophet David Letterman: “Stupid Human Tricks.”

Which you may not even know you have…or can do…without this type of deep dive using AI.

My “MRI” comprised three cognitive frameworks I use constantly (much broader than my “signature moves”) …which I can safely say I wasn’t fully aware of before the creation of this “Fingerprint Analysis”:

A sophisticated mental accounting system for relationships
A time-compression algorithm that processes 40 years of experience instantly
A strategic elevation system that saves people millions in mistakes

And each framework is documented with evidence, patterns, and specific examples from the work I’ve done.

27 pages worth. And all actionable in my work going forward…now that I am aware of it.

Way bigger than my head…but it was all in my head…yet I was unable to see it without this new perspective.

Simply put, it’s easy to take for granted what we know and all that we can share.

And we seem to forget more than we remember.

Somehow I also saw a dark side in all of this too:

Using this hidden operating system (which uncovered Stupid Human Tricks I was unaware I had) could be a way to take advantage of people.

How I got there I don’t know…I guess I always look at the upside and downside of everything…but it led me to something else.

That is, we need to come at all of this from a place of contribution, not exploitation (see the quote in the P.P.S).

Being polite helps too. 🙂

And I have no intention of exploiting anyone.

The conclusion?

I am sitting on intellectual property I had no idea I “owned” …and it’s worth a lot (both emotionally and financially).

The lesson?

We are all “unconsciously competent” …we can’t see our own genius…because we are living inside of it.

A simple conclusion and lesson after immersing myself in a sea of content…one that you might already be aware of…and if that’s the case, consider this post a reminder to keep this front and center.

I’m sure you have all experienced when you say something that is old hat for you but earth shattering to an audience who has never heard it before.

That’s why I say that “being the messenger” for a new audience on a concept they were unaware of (that was invented by someone else) is as fulfilling as talking about something you invented.

Making sure all of those concepts from your experience are easily retrievable for sharing is far more important than simply bragging about what you’ve done…or presumably “invented.”

Also: Don’t ever get out over your skis thinking that you are the inventor of everything that seems new to a particular audience…because chances are, it was invented by someone else.

If you end up being able to get a patent on it, consider that gravy.

I always begin with, “I have never invented anything” …and build from there.

For my sanity…and humility.

The quote in the P.P.S. is given to you as a gift…and a reminder…to live your life this way (if you choose to).

Regardless, you are always the innovator of your personal IP…and the use of AI to shine a light on everything you have accomplished to see patterns…and identify your superpowers…is a bonanza we all need to take advantage of.

Make your invisible patterns visible.

You owe that to the world.

And it’s more than just creating a Bot.

Warmly,

Brian

P.S. The “architect” I am working on this with is a former Titans Xcelerator member, Max Bernstein.

I can’t say I trained him while he was a member…as I said previously, I am as far from an AI expert as there is as indicated from the post above.

Although he picked up many direct response marketing and copywriting fundamentals while he was a member…which he is now applying to his “Fingerprint Analysis.”

Safe to say he’s come a long way.

And I don’t have to say that “I knew him when” …because “when” is “now.” 🙂

That is, I am grateful he reached out to me after working a bit with Jay Abraham (and others) letting me know I have much more to offer to the world (despite not being as prolific as Jay) …and he wants to help with that.

There are other “Max’s” out there…and I suggest you find one of your own…or you might be more competent in all of this than I am so then you can do it yourself.

But the key is to explore your personal IP beyond the obvious.

If you want to follow Max and everything he is working on, you can subscribe to his newsletter, “Signal > Noise” on Substack here.

P.P.S. And…doing this kind of thing involves personal responsibility and not doing it solely from ego or to make money.

Although feeling good about yourself and making money shouldn’t be frowned upon either. 🙂

But I found the quote below quite grounding as Bots and AI take over the world.

We start with human-to-human connection as the ultimate grounding (nod to LinkedIn expert, Joshua Lee).

But as far as grounding with our intention, this quote–which appeared in the weekly blog of results leader Srikumar Rao, also a Titans Xcelerator member—says it better than I ever could.

From someone with the highest integrity (Srikumar)… and he’s got awesome IP of his own too.

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment; and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”