AI is here to make your human side shine

 

This write up may seem completely out of date. After all, AI has been here for a while and for the most part people seem to be adapting to it's presence alright... right?

I'd say that for the most part we've finally accepted AI is here to stay. Some of us have even started using tools and plugins that make use of LLM's and generative AI to assist on our everyday work or life tasks.

But there's still a lingering... I'll call it suspicion for lack of a better word, that at any point Skynet or AM, Shodan or your favorite AI overlord of choice will suddenly wake up, take all our jobs and wipe out the human race in the machine uprising. Or maybe your not thinking of something as drastic but are still worried of how fast AI development is coming along and it may run you out of a job sooner or later.

Well, hopefully the following paragraphs can help you feel a little bit more at ease and also get a different outlook on AI and it's growth by taking special attention to the intelligence part of the AI acronym.

But AI is inherently immoral!

Let's get something out of the way first, as with most things under the sun, AI has some problems. In my opinion they are mostly centered around acquiring the data used to train the different models, regardless of their applications. And the speed at which it's being introduced into the mainstream without giving human workers a chance to adapt the required skills to make the best use of the technology. But as interesting as these topics may be, it's not the focus of today's write up. 

Just wanted to bring that up so it doesn't seem like I'm completely enamored by AI and unable to see it's shortcomings.

Moving on!

How an average person defines AI

 

Something, something shining humans?

So, let's make sense of the title. How is it that AI will make my human side shine if most of it's uses are centered around speed and efficiency? Something humans are known to completely fumble in front of machines. To answer this question we need to check the definition of intelligence.

Before we go to the dictionary though, how would you define intelligence? It's something I was thinking about on my train ride home one day. Why is it that we describe scientists and developers as "intelligent" but not designers or musicians? We tend to call them "creatives" instead, which is incredibly unfair to developers and scientists who are also incredibly creative in their solutions and hypotheses, and to artists as well since creativity alone rarely creates anything of substance. It may be pretty but without intelligence behind it, it rings hollow.

The Oxford dictionary defines intelligence as: the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.

At the time, I was reading the last chapters of the book "Neuromancer"by William Gibson, which was already prompting me to think about AI as an entity a lot, and that definition struck a chord so hard that I almost felt it physically hit me.

There's a little additional bit of data that is crucial in understanding why this mix of things were so revealing , (I promise it's worth it and not me rambling on endlessly!). 

When I first set out to be a consultant, I was plagued by doubts about how generic my area of expertise ends up sounding when converted into advice or actionable items. Out of the advice that I got when I aired out my grievances, one bit my mum told me sticks with me always. Paraphrasing her, it went something like: "Whatever you set out to do is unique and special because it's YOU doing it".

At first, that sounds like the most mum thing to say ever. Until you actually mull it over for a while and realize it's true. The base knowledge one carries is something anyone can acquire with time and effort, but it's the experiences one gets as they live that shape how that knowledge is perceived and therefore applied!

It's all about learning to get along

 

Putting two and two together...

Hopefully by now the title makes more sense! In it's current state, AI has the capacity to acquire an immense amount of knowledge in a very short amount of time. What it does with that knowledge however, is still up to the person working with it. This is why it's so important that people are correctly taught how to interact and use AI tools. Their experiences are what will actually shape the final product, not the AI itself.

I'm not bright enough to predict how AI will evolve, maybe at some point they'll actually get something that  somehow resembles a personality and will gain the ability to apply knowledge by themselves. Even then, that result will differ from one produced by a human, not because it has better or worse data, but because of HOW that data has been experienced and applied.

In the end ,we shouldn't treat AI as a threat, it's just a new tool in our arsenal. This goes for workers and decision makers alike. If you end up sidelining half of your workforce because AI can replace them, then your product must already be the most generic, boring thing ever, (I'm looking at main stream publications and "news" sites right now). AI should empower people to create more of what they're good at. In the same line, if you completely reject AI as a tool, then be aware that those that actually embrace it will draw circles, (and maybe some even more complex shapes), around you at some point.

What I wish to highlight here is the very high value YOU as a person posses. Your experiences and stories, the way that you frame a challenge and process life is what really drives the end result. Never push your value to the side.

I hope you found this write up insightful, entertaining or at least enjoyable. If it changed the way that you view or think about AI, let me know in the comments and as always if there is a project that you believe I can be of assistance in framing and completing, make sure to reach out!

Until next time, Let's keep creating!