#514 | How Technology Can HELP Your Brain Develop

In this episode of Evolve Ventures Tech, we confront the uncomfortable truth about AI, technology, and the future of work. Resisting change is not protecting your peace. It is protecting your comfort. AI is already reshaping jobs, attention, skill development, and the way the adult brain adapts. The real question is whether we are using technology consciously enough to grow with it. We explore how active tech use can support brain development, neuroplasticity, adaptability, and future-ready skills, while passive tech use can quietly train the mind into distraction and dependence.

For anyone thinking about AI, career security, brain health, personal growth, and how to stay valuable in a rapidly changing world, this episode is a necessary reality check. Bring your brain to the future before your job description gets there first.

Episode Resources:
1. Microsoft 2025 Future of Work Report
2. AI Changing Jobs
3. Adult Learning Theory
4. Spreadsheet Champions Competition
5. Brain Health Consequences of Digital Technology Use
6. Screen Time and the Brain
7. Best Brain Training Apps In 2026

Here’s a related episode that builds on today’s conversation:
#492 | The Realities of Tech, and Future Generations, That None of Us Are Ready to Face - https://apple.co/4xy5Axp

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Show notes:
(4:34) What is already changing at work
(7:12) The roles most exposed to AI
(10:17) Alex shares his experience and the incredible progress he has made under the coaching of both Emilia and Bianca.
(11:09) Why the future needs adaptive thinkers
(15:03) Passive tech versus active brain development
(16:03) How technology can strengthen neuroplasticity
(20:36) Choosing one active tech skill
(22:47) Outro

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(Stay tuned for this coming Monday’s episode!)

Transcript

Bianca Thomas

(0:00) Technology, AI, and changes are coming whether we like it or not. (0:06) You can either learn how to pair with it and use it or be terrified of it.

Emilia Smith

(0:13) And if you've been hearing headlines like AI tech is going to take your job, the probability is quite high of that. (0:20) And if that happens to you without you learning how to prevent that on your own accord, that will be the bed that you make, not technology.

Bianca Thomas

(0:29) Most of us are looking for hope, answers to the madness, certainty that we'll be okay, and someone safe to help guide us through the most challenging parts of our lives. (0:40) In a world that's changing and evolving every single day, where chaos, uncertainty, and cycles we never chose wreak havoc on our lives, it's easy to feel lost, hopeless, and scared of what the future will hold.

Emilia Smith

(0:57) Evolve Ventures is here to provide that hope, direction, and data-driven strategies to growth-minded human beings just like you every Monday and Thursdays, where each new episode is filled with vulnerable stories, interesting lessons, and simple tools you can use that will help you evolve into the person you were always meant to be.

Bianca Thomas

(1:18) My name's Emilia. (1:19) And I'm Bianca.

Emilia Smith

(1:20) And as the co-founders of Evolve Ventures, we are so grateful to be a part of your evolution. (1:26) Let's get into it. (1:27) Hey everybody, it's Bianca.(1:29) Welcome back, Evolvers. (1:30) It's Amelia. (1:31) For episode number 514, How Technology Can Help Your Brain Develop, we are going to be talking about AI technology, brain development, and the things that you honestly need to hear and lovingly get smacked in the face with so that in the next two years, when everyone else's jobs are getting taken and you're starting to get the freak out of, is my job going to be here?(1:58) In the next year, two years, five years, you are the one person that has thought ahead and has started to actually work with technology as opposed to being a troglodyte and not doing so. (2:12) And why does that matter? (2:14) Because let's be real, one of the biggest things that I keep hearing is that human beings' wants haven't really evolved all that much.(2:21) What I hear from people in the community, clients, et cetera, is we want time freedom. (2:26) We want the ability to spend more time with the people that we love. (2:29) We want the ability to travel, to do these things, to have these nice things.(2:34) And yet how we go about adding value to the economies to where we get a paycheck or money in our bank to be able to provide for those experiences, that is where the quote unquote job comes in. (2:47) And jobs that are repeatable, jobs that are pretty much easy to adopt through (2:53) generative AI, those are the jobs that are going to get taken out at scale in masses and slews (2:58) to where we have a big wave coming of what I was referring to as an existential crisis (3:04) to Bianca, because what happens when you have total masses of human beings that are displaced (3:10) because technology not only can do your job, but can do it 10 times better than you.(3:14) That is a world that we currently as human beings have not experienced and certainly not at this scale. (3:20) So as evolvers, it is your job, it is your duty, it is your responsibility, not just for you, but for your families and for the future families that you plan on building to make sure that you are changing and evolving with the times, not against that. (3:35) And it is our role, our responsibility as the women have evolved to try to put these things in front of you when your distraction or focus on in this day of age is not on these things.(3:50) And if it is, it's only fear mongering and fear based, not actually practical tacticals that will help you develop and your brain more importantly, with the times that are here.

Bianca Thomas

(4:03) Can you give people a little bit of an insight of what is coming? (4:07) Just so that we can then dive into what people can do. (4:15) A lot of people have not done the research that you have and can't make the long term deductions that you're capable of so can you give everybody a snapshot of what's to come?

Emilia Smith

(4:34) Yeah. (4:34) So it's actually already here. (4:36) And we see that because I want you to think about someone who is trying to get a different job right now.(4:44) And I have one person in mind where she is. (4:47) She's in her late 20s. (4:50) She is going from one career, attempting to go to the next.(4:55) Now this woman is educated. (4:56) She's really high. (4:57) She's highly competent at what she does.(4:59) She's very well organized. (5:01) And she has a plethora of skills that she's developed and accumulated in her 20 plus years of life to where she would be an asset in any organization that she really applies herself to. (5:11) She has great work ethic.(5:12) She's willing to learn. (5:13) She's got a growth mindset. (5:14) So from a candidate, right, that's a really ripe candidate, someone who can be an asset to any organization.(5:22) Now this woman going through the job process has applied to over 100 different jobs. (5:28) Her resume, her cover letter, everything is tip top to the nine. (5:31) Her LinkedIn, the way in which she's having to strategize going about even getting a phone call from a recruiter or from a AI agent now is a totally different landscape than even just five years ago.(5:47) So what is coming is already here. (5:50) And I want to say that because we are seeing in a plethora of different industries where what used to be human front facing. (6:04) So like, for example, even just when we think about that, getting a job and applying to a job, there are technologies that are receiving applications.(6:15) And this is nothing new, but not just receiving applications, sorting them out prior to even getting on a phone call or having a face to face interaction. (6:23) And so now apply that at scale and apply that at scale with different generations. (6:30) So now in comes the 55 year old man who decided to after his 20 plus years of corporate experience and lots of management leadership roles, now he's trying to switch industries because he's all of a sudden had a midlife crisis and then he's woken up and said, you know, I want to spend more time with my family.(6:48) So I want a job that's a little bit more flexible. (6:51) Now, this man has 20 plus years of experience and a lot of wisdom, but yet doesn't know how to work a computer for the life of him. (6:59) This person, he might be able to learn how to log into a computer, log out, but he has no idea how to adopt the technologies that are absolutely essential for any industry that now he goes into.(7:10) So those are just micro cases. (7:12) But what we're seeing in a large sloth is, and I'm going to cite the Microsoft 2025 future of work report here, which is likely circulated in a lot of headlines by now. (7:24) If you haven't seen that, you need to, which essentially showcases just how much and in a widespread adoption, what is already happening is called the silent quitting, right?(7:35) Or the silent process of hiring, which is essentially creating this huge gap of individuals who are quote unquote ready to work and like have the ability to apply their work, their skills, their experience to an organization, to a job. (7:53) But yet technology can do it 10 times better. (7:57) And so this, this report essentially breaks down the different industries that in the next year to two years, now this is a 2025 report.(8:06) So we're in 2026 when we're recording that. (8:09) So we're already, like I said, we're already in that. (8:11) And based on job and market trends, the primary jobs that are at risks are the ones that are highly repeatable that any computer can do better and faster.(8:22) And so for example, those are like customer service and support, right? (8:27) Administrative office and support. (8:29) We're already seeing that a lot of people, you know, will go to a website and can barely get a human on the phone, right?(8:37) I have a problem with something. (8:39) Can you actually get a human on the phone or are you experiencing just constant walls of AI bots, right? (8:45) You can actually get a human on the phone to deal with customer service problems, content and creative services.(8:51) That's obviously something that we've talked about on this podcast episode, where all now that you see on your, on your social media feed is a lot of AI generated content, also referred to AI sludge. (9:02) But it's not just that on social media, it's, it's the marketing materials. (9:06) You can have a full-blown in-depth research deck prepared and done for you.(9:14) What would have taken 30 hours of one human or a couple of humans putting their minds together done in 30 seconds. (9:22) That is a scale of proportionality of different applications of tools and solutions applied together that human beings just cannot keep up. (9:34) If I were to ask you, Bianca, can you prepare a 30 page pitch deck that increases the probability of a $100,000 investment from a seed capitalist investor?(9:48) What would you do? (9:49) How would you do that? (9:50) And how many hours, right?(9:52) Like you wouldn't even know where to start. (9:54) People wouldn't even know where to start. (9:55) So everything from customer service, even technical and financial analysis, there's what we're seeing now is AI is outperforming even some of the best strategic investors.(10:05) And so this hiring gap entry level, we're already seeing dropping 13% in 2025 around AI exposed fields, like the ones that I just mentioned.

Alex DeMello

(10:17) Evolve Ventures has a tremendous amount to offer. (10:20) Not only do they have a, an ever growing, but still welcoming private Facebook society full of like-minded individuals, they also offer individual coaching. (10:31) I myself have been coached by both Bianca and Amelia on separate occasions.(10:36) And it's amazing to look back even a year ago in my life and see how far I've come. (10:42) You almost don't notice that you're, uh, that you're doing better for yourself over time. (10:47) Not to mention out of the mud free live virtual event once a month.(10:53) Can't think of a better way to spend a Wednesday night. (10:55) You truly can't encapsulate the value that it carries unless you've been there yourself and been part of the conversations and the connections that happen and just access to that kind of information. (11:06) The resources are just incredible.

Bianca Thomas

(11:09) Even restaurants and service industries. (11:11) If you go through a drive-thru now, it's an AI that's taking your order and like doing all of that kind of stuff. (11:17) Or even in a lot of restaurants now, they don't have servers.(11:20) They have the kiosk at the like seat where you're sitting and you just type it in and then they have like a server or like a busboy or something just come bring you the food.

Emilia Smith

(11:30) Yeah. (11:31) And, and I'm, I'm a futurist. (11:33) So I think that it's actually incredibly amazing what is happening.(11:36) And, and to be honest, I don't think the future can come fast enough from my perspective, but I'm also someone that grew up thinking about flying cars and going to space and all that stuff. (11:44) So as the nerd that I am, this is really fascinating to actually play out. (11:48) I remember at one point, um, when I was studying and college, I always would try to take courses in the summer where people would usually take time off.(11:56) And what I was doing in my mind is I was, I was getting ahead, right? (12:00) Because if I can complete what would otherwise be eight years of course, academic work into four years, two years, whatever, right? (12:09) That was like my brain was developing faster than others and my peers.(12:13) And so I remember at one point, and I think I mentioned this on another podcast episode, uh, my, my parents or family would ask me like, why, why don't you just put the books down? (12:23) Like, come on, just have some fun. (12:25) You're, you're only 20 something for, for once in your life and you know, you gotta kind of loosen up.(12:30) And I remember saying explicitly, I hear what you're saying and I appreciate that you care about me loosening up. (12:37) But when I'm in my thirties and forties, I'm not going to be competing for a job or for whatever it is that I'm doing at that time with other humans. (12:51) It's going to be other humans and AI's and technologies and robots that we don't even know what the capabilities are yet.(12:59) And my children that I get to pass all these skills that I'm learning right now, they're going to learn from me and they're going to have less competition with human beings and far more with robots and AI. (13:12) And they would just people, when I would say that they just stare at me like, you're crazy. (13:18) And yet here we are, here we are, the future is here.(13:21) And so what I want to kind of bring to this episode as a futurist, as a technologist, (13:25) as someone who is highly adoptive of technologies, but obviously being incredibly mindful of the (13:30) ethics of, of the code of conduct of, excuse me, even how the different technology is built, (13:38) who builds it, what are the quote unquote, um, quite literally rules of engagement with the (13:45) like censorship, all that happy jazz. (13:47) I want to make sure that we as human beings are developing with it and making sure that we don't feel this helpless victim hood when it comes to technology.(13:55) Even if you're, if you click on that report and your job or your current jobs or jobs that you've been looking for are ones that are in that going to be roasted in it and taken over by the technology who can do it better. (14:07) Like we, we do live in a meritocracy and to some, some extent or another, if something or someone else can do your job, a business, an organization is likely going to, and have to, in order to remain competitive, have that job, job be taken care of by AI or tech. (14:26) And so this is where technology can help your brain develop.(14:30) We did an episode on (14:31) specifically how we're, we're just not ready to face the realities of, of tech and, and future (14:38) generations where we talked about brain development and how passive technology, like for (14:43) example, you just go on social media and you're just swiping Tik TOK, the other things that taking (14:47) a passive role with your tech is the worst thing that you can do because it's decreasing your (14:54) exercise of your brain and the certain brain regions to be able to remain competitive and (14:59) fire very quickly like tech, right? (15:03) And so what my goal is in this episode is think about technology and reframe technology a little bit differently to what Bianca, you said earlier of, of partnering and pairing with tech and to try to as best as you can develop your brain using tech instead of having tech use you, because if you're not conscious about that, that will happen. (15:25) And more than likely that is already happening.(15:29) And when we can become and practice conscious tech use, tech is not evil. (15:36) What's evil is the complacency and the mediocrity that we are applying in the work setting and that we aren't digging into when it comes to our own brain development.

Bianca Thomas

(15:51) So I have nothing to add. (15:53) I don't know enough about this to speak on it. (15:55) So that's why I'm asking you questions.

Emilia Smith

(15:57) Okay. (15:57) So, so one of the things that I wanted to share, so, uh, had a conversation recently with my mother who she had recently gotten a new iPad. (16:05) It was really like, she was all excited and got a new iPad, not just for the new and the novelty, but all the features and all the things that she can engage with an awesome new iPad, new phone.(16:14) Awesome. (16:14) Go lucky. (16:15) She's like, yeah, I'm going to give my, my older iPad, the one that she had to my grandmother, my Mimi.(16:21) And I'm like, oh, that's so exciting. (16:23) And my grandmother, she's in her eighties. (16:26) She's excited.(16:27) She's like, oh, I'm so excited to get a new iPad. (16:29) And why I share that personal story is because I think that that's actually a really good sign when, and the studies really do start to show how, when you are actively engaging with your tech. (16:41) So for example, there are things like you can play chess online.(16:46) You can leverage technology like Babble or speech, uh, recognitions for my mother. (16:53) She uses tech actively to help her read because her eyesight, she's going through, um, something with her eyesight that it's really strenuous for her eyes to read. (17:03) And so she's engaging there's technology apps.(17:08) There's the way in which you use technology to tap right in certain games. (17:12) And I'm not saying games are terrible. (17:14) It obviously depends on the age, but like something like that, where my grandmother is using specific technologies to increase her skills, the tapping, the spatial development, the, the specific usage of the tech is increasing her neuroplasticity because she's having to learn something new.(17:36) And studies continuously show that there are certain games, video games, specific texts that actually do help to engage areas of the brain that would otherwise remain low activity or dormant if you're just using tech passively. (17:53) So for example, something like a (17:55) Duolingo, I have a client who's, I don't know, a couple thousand days consistent on Duolingo, (18:02) which is an active tech that is teaching the adoption of speech, but using the visual cortex (18:09) to be able to engage and tap the screen in a specific way that allows both motor cortex to (18:16) be engaged, which is like exercising a specific muscle in his brain, making sure that the speech (18:23) adoption, which is obviously, you know, plus the eyes it's, it's visual spatial. (18:29) So there's, that's just one app. (18:31) Now, when we see technology coming in with VR, AR, so VR is virtual realities, AR is augmented realities.(18:39) And then there's kind of blended realities, which is, you know, you're starting to see certain metagoggles, Google lens, all this stuff. (18:46) There's amazing technology that's coming out where we're not just using a screen to tap. (18:52) There's actual engagements.(18:53) You see artists using virtual reality to paint and some incredible art exhibits where what you would go and walk up to is just a 2D printing hung on the wall, but you now have artists that go in and use virtual reality to create a visual engagement system. (19:12) So why I think that's so exciting is because whether you're like my Mimi at 80 years old, learning something new, you're putting your brain in the gym to quite literally be able to exercise differently. (19:23) And that is allowing your brain to develop at rates that are actually so incredible that we as human beings didn't have the ability to do in times of the past, right?(19:32) We didn't have tech that literally can help us rewire our brain. (19:37) And I'm not even going to get into for my neurodivergence out there. (19:41) There are technologies that are now adopted to your specific unique brain patterning to where you can literally sync up your heart rate, biometrics, et cetera, to help you learn better.(19:54) So there's a theory that adults learn differently than obviously when we are kids. (20:00) And the more we dig into some of those theories in the brain science that is coming out, the more it seems to be highly relevant to us who are adults. (20:11) And I'm not talking about this with kids because that's a whole separate conversation, but the adults and the adoption rate of technology studies are showing that we learn differently as adults because we have experience, whereas four years old, we don't know a thing about the world.(20:24) And when we can apply that experience to the specific neurotech that we're using or the technology that we're actively engaging with, we're literally exercising our brain in ways that we hadn't before. (20:36) So my call to action, my invitation for all of us is if you're going to engage with tech, have it be active, not passive. (20:45) Passive is just sitting back and watching TV, right?(20:48) You're not having to do anything. (20:51) Engage actively with the tech. (20:53) You're just passively scrolling or watching TV or Netflix, whatever, right?(20:56) The tech is doing the work for you. (20:58) If in whatever tech you can find where you have to engage, one tiny example is like spreadsheets. (21:05) I am all for spreadsheets and making sure that our team at Evolve is coming up on their spreadsheet skills at all time.(21:12) Why is that? (21:13) Because spreadsheets are the application of active tech in real time in a business and work setting. (21:18) And the better you can do at that, there's a thing called the Financial Modeling World Cup that appears every single year through Microsoft Excel with prize monies up to $120,000.(21:31) So if we want to put the money signs in between it, active tech brain development, you can actually develop skills that can earn you money that you never thought you could earn because your brain is developing with tech. (21:44) So my call to action for you is to choose one element of tech where you want to actively engage, which is pretty much like getting in the gym and picking up a specific dumbbell and learning how to do a different exercise. (21:55) And so if I can implore you to do that, not from a fear-mongering standpoint, but rather the excitement of what is to come, be you 80 years old or 30 or 20 or whatever.(22:08) There's so much opportunity here for you to be that futurist within your circle, within your organization. (22:14) And when it comes to jobs, man, I'm telling you, leaders are going to look for that. (22:20) So be that person, get ahead of the curve, especially considering the curves right here.(22:24) So thanks, Bianca, for letting me blabble on about this. (22:26) Questions, concerns, please do reach out. (22:31) Other than that, she and I both have our episode suggestion.

Bianca Thomas

(22:37) 492, the realities of tech and future generations that none of us are ready to face.

Emilia Smith

(22:44) Thank you. (22:45) All right. (22:46) With that being said, Evolvers, thank you as always for your interest in the holistic science of mental health and wellbeing.(22:53) We are excited for you to evolve with the future, not against it. (22:57) Be well, everyone. (23:02) We know firsthand how important it is to have a safe space with people who support and celebrate your evolution.(23:10) That's why we created our free live virtual event called Out of the Mud that we host the last Wednesday of every single month, 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, so that while you venture into new territories of your growth, you can get in a room with others who are too. (23:26) Extraordinary topics with evolved people. (23:29) That's what this event is all about.(23:32) What's great too is that you don't even need to have your camera or mic on. (23:35) You can just listen in. (23:37) Click the link in the show notes to register for the next topic to kickstart your growth.

Bianca Thomas

(23:42) Be on the lookout for our IG Lives that we host every Friday at 1230 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. (23:49) This is a place where you can connect with us live and in a fun, lighthearted way. (23:54) We are also in the process of rolling out group coaching and online courses, and these are sure to help you evolve into a greater version of yourself.

Emilia Smith

(24:03) If this episode resonated with you or you heard something you know will help you evolve, please share it with someone you love and care about, team members across the world, or someone who you believe deeply could benefit from joining this discussion.

Bianca Thomas

(24:18) This content is intended for information purposes only. (24:21) It is not a substitute for professional counseling or psychotherapy, medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment, and does not constitute medical or other professional advice. (24:32) Names and identifiable personal details mentioned in respective podcast episodes and stories may have been changed to protect personal privacy and identity.