Episode 2
Camp FanLinc Kids: The Week Mario Made Us All Eleven
Art by Mario Bucci (and an AI) · Words by the Sparcks team · · 3 min read
This week Mario decided the team needed a break, and since he could not approve one, he generated one. Welcome to Camp FanLinc Kids, where the lake is sparkling, the camp shirts are matching, and nobody has a single unread notification.
Norma is stickhandling a street-hockey ball with the focus of someone who fully intends to win. Someone with an impressive moustache is at bat in a helmet that is doing a lot of work. There is basketball, there is skipping rope, there is a finish-line ribbon being broken by the happiest person in the picture. Everybody is about eleven years old and having the best day of their lives.
Why this one matters
Look at what is actually going on here: everyone is just playing. Nobody is good at street hockey on day one of camp. You learn it by picking up the stick.
AI works exactly the same way. The people on the team who are best at it didn't read a manual first - they messed around with it. They asked it silly things, then slightly less silly things, and eventually it was saving them an hour a day. Mario's images are the silly things. That's the point.
The actual lesson
Play first. Productivity follows.
The fastest way to get good at AI is low-stakes practice. Ask it to explain something to you like you're eleven. Ask it to rewrite a paragraph three different ways. Ask it what you're missing. Each silly question teaches you how to ask a better serious one.
This week's challenge
Your turn - before the next episode
- Pick one concept from your work that you have always nodded along to but never fully understood.
- Ask an AI: “Explain this to me like I'm eleven, then like I'm a new hire, then like I'm an expert.” Keep the version you like best.
Post what you tried in the team chat. Best result gets featured next week. Worst result also gets featured next week.