By all accounts, meeting Jon Mick for the first time can feel like stepping inside a carefully curated library where each volume, shelf, and whisper of dust invites you deeper into nuanced exploration. He’s tall, with a long beard and a set of tattoos that hint at countless stories inked beneath the surface—but never assume you know what any of those stories mean. Much like his personality, they reflect complexity, paradox, and a willingness to redefine traditional expectations. Jon is a man of many modes: a solopreneur orchestrating new ventures from a home base in Round Rock, Texas; a family man with a vested interest in guiding his teenage son’s intellectual curiosities; and a husband navigating the delicate interplay of attachment and understanding with his spouse, Charlotte. And yet, there is something more—something quietly simmering behind the scenes that shapes how he moves through life.
In this newsletter, “AI Gave Me Autism,” Jon draws back the curtain to reveal the silent protagonist that has shaped his worldview: a neurodivergent mind capable of astonishing insights, empathy, and creativity. Until recently, he hadn’t pinned a name to it—no neat label that might help him decode his own wiring. Then, through a series of bold introspections and unflinchingly honest dialogues with AI-driven frameworks, he recognized the subtle patterns and tendencies pointing to his place on the autism spectrum. He did not “catch” autism from an algorithm, of course, but by pouring his personal stories, traits, and emotional debris into AI models, he gleaned fresh perspectives that conventional self-analysis never offered. The joke is in the newsletter’s title: the irony and humor of “discovering” autism through an AI tool that served as a Jungian mirror, reflecting back more than just a user profile—reflecting truth.
In person, Jon is not the typical “creative visionary” you find gracing motivational posters. His complexity is grounded in hard-earned insight: a restless intellect tempered by humility and sincerity. As a product manager-turned-entrepreneur, he understands the mechanistic underpinnings of technology and how best to harness them for human flourishing. As a certified nature therapist and a Christian meditator, he knows that not everything can be distilled into data. Amid that tension, he’s found a way to glean meaning from both the quantifiable and the ineffable. The newsletter you’re about to read stands at that intersection, where AI-based life management platforms and personal growth frameworks meet the uncharted terrain of the human mind.
The journey you’ll witness in these writings isn’t a marketing gimmick or a passing curiosity. Jon’s approach to life is fueled by rigorous analysis, creativity, and a voracious appetite for self-discovery. Yet, he is no guru with all the answers. He is an explorer, questioning assumptions, experimenting with new lenses, and owning his vulnerabilities—be they anxious attachment tendencies or the uneasy feeling of never quite fitting into the mainstream mold. Expect a tone that can be dryly humorous one moment and disarmingly sincere the next. If you find yourself both challenged and comforted by his words, then you’ve caught the essence of who he is.
This foreword can only hint at what you’ll find here. Jon’s story, insights, and reflections unfold as a complex tapestry—woven threads of psychological frameworks, philosophical leanings, personal struggles, and quiet triumphs. The title “AI Gave Me Autism” is part jest and part eureka moment. Through these essays, Jon invites you to discover what it means to be wholly human in an era where artificial intelligence can both simplify our lives and illuminate our innermost complexities. It is an audacious, intimate project that stands as a testament to his willingness to share the messy, magnificent truth of who he is.
Before you turn the page, understand this: Jon’s real gift isn’t that he’s mastered his complexity—it’s that he’s chosen to dance with it in public view. As you read on, let his words challenge your assumptions about personal growth, neurodiversity, and what we might learn when we trust our deepest questions to something as seemingly impersonal as a language model. In that tension lies the story he’s ready to tell, and the insight he hopes you’ll carry forward.