How to Future-Proof Your Kid in the Age of AI (CEO Ryan Kiick)
11 February 2026

How to Future-Proof Your Kid in the Age of AI (CEO Ryan Kiick)

The Nick Standlea Show

About

AI is changing school, college admissions, and the workforce faster than most parents and students realize. In this episode, I sit down with Ryan Kiick (CEO of Revolution Prep) to talk about the skills that won’t get automated, and how to use AI without becoming dependent on it.


We get into the real danger of offloading thinking, why the most powerful way to use AI is to generate better questions (not just better answers), what happens to writing and the college essay in a post-ChatGPT world, and why executive functioning plus deep learning may be the biggest moat students can build.


If you’re a student, parent, or educator trying to stay sharp in the age of AI, this one is for you.


Guest: Ryan Kiick — CEO, Revolution Prep
Find Ryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryankiick/



🔗 Support This Podcast by Checking Out Our Sponsors:


Zapier: Build Your Own AI Agent Today, Without Coding
Link: https://bit.ly/4pI8Su2


Test Prep Gurus: https://www.prepgurus.com
Instagram: @TestPrepGurus



🕒 Timestamps (Chapters):
00:00 – Cold plunges and bad circadian rhythms
01:10 – Justin’s background and why economics needs better communication
03:30 – Why AI is the biggest economic shift of our lifetimes
06:00 – From brawn to brains: how AI changes the equation
09:00 – The white-collar revolution: why AI threatens cognitive work
11:30 – Will AI drive wage stagnation for white-collar jobs?
12:50 – VCRs, substitutes, and complements: lessons for AI
14:50 – The NickBot 2000 thought experiment — who owns the robot?
17:00 – Why AI’s real issue is ownership, not capability
19:30 – The DeepMind vs. Meta contrast: altruism vs. profit
21:30 – The monopoly danger: what happens if one company wins
24:00 – Why competition (not regulation) is saving us, and Nvidia
25:54 – Sponsor: Zapier
28:17 – Are AI stocks a bubble—or just early?
31:00 – Dot-com lessons and humility in predictions
33:30 – $700 trillion in potential AI value? An economist’s math
38:00 – The global AI race: U.S., China, and everyone else
41:00 – Government policy, laissez-faire, and missing debates
45:00 – Manipulation, bias, and invisible influence in LLMs
46:00 – Education’s blind spot: universities aren’t adapting fast enough
52:00 – Why “prompting” is the new literacy
55:00 – How ChatGPT changes testing, grading, and learning
58:00 – Reinventing the Oxford tutorial—powered by AI
01:00:30 – Liberal arts, critical thinking, and the skills that endure
01:02:00 – “vibe coding” for the next generation
01:06:30 – How to future-proof your career in the age of AI
01:09:00 – Daily AI experiment challenge
01:10:30 – Final thoughts: curiosity, courage, and lifelong learning


🔗 Support This Podcast by Checking Out Our Sponsor:
Test Prep Gurus
website: https://www.prepgurus.com
Instagram: @TestPrepGurus


👉 Build your own AI Agent with Zapier (opens the builder with the prompt pre-loaded):  https://bit.ly/4hH5JaE


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Ask questions, 
Don't accept the status quo, 
And be curious.