This AI Skeptic Built One of America's Fastest-Growing Tech Communities: How to Use AI Without Losing Your Humanity

What happens when a self-proclaimed AI skeptic decides to dive in headfirst? In this episode of The Disruption Lab, host Kevin McGinnis sits down with Chris Kovac, marketing expert and co-founder of the Kansas City AI Club, to unpack how one blog post changed everything—and how he turned curiosity into a movement. You’ll hear how Chris went from dismissing AI to becoming a national leader in AI community-building, what’s really happening behind the scenes in Kansas City’s tech ecosystem, and how marketers, entrepreneurs, and everyday people are using tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity to 10x their creativity and productivity. We explore the ethics, infrastructure challenges, and jaw-dropping possibilities of AI, plus real-life success stories of founders and innovators solving actual problems with this technology. Whether you’re an early adopter or AI-curious, this episode offers fresh insights, a few reality checks, and a lot of inspiration.