AI: From Mammoths to Machines (Without Losing Our Minds)

From stone tools to smartphones, we humans have been on quite the journey. It took us thousands of years to figure out agriculture (apparently, hunting mammoths got old), centuries to kickstart the Industrial Revolution (because who doesn't love a good steam engine?), and about a century to dive into the Information Age (hello Windows!). Now, in just a couple of decades, we've plunged headfirst into the AI Revolution. Talk about a speed run!

Many of us have dabbled with ChatGPT and thought, 'Wow, this thing's smarter than my coffee maker!' But before we start asking AI to run our companies, let's consider a few things:

1. The AI Learning Curve: While we may not fully understand or anticipate how and why AI works its magic, we should be able to develop an intuition to make the best out of it. You can’t just rely on it to write hundreds or thousands of lines of Python code without knowing a bit of Python yourself. The more you use AI, the better your working relationship with it will become.
2. Brainstorming Buddy: Apart from automating routine tasks, AI could be your brainstorming partner on some creative projects. ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, with the right context and prompting, can be surprisingly good at debating and providing different angles. Let it supercharge your creative and curious mind.
3. Corporate FOMO: Companies are racing to adopt AI faster than you can say 'digital transformation'. But here's the kicker - most of us, from the CEO to the intern, are still trying to figure out if AI is more than a fancy autocorrect. We've never built anything smarter than us before. Let's not create a tool that seemingly does the thinking and poses the skills, which could ultimately dummy us all. Don’t forget to invest in Gray Matter together with developing AI. Upskill your workforce before building the next-gen AI. Get your company AI ready!
4. The 'Automate Everything' Fallacy: I'm sure many of you have been asked to condense your expertise into a process or procedure to remove the subjective/personal elements from your work, hoping that anyone (sometimes with no experience or skill) could perform the task by following the playbook. While these requests have their merits in some scenarios, ultimately, if a task can be proceduralized, it can be automated. So why keep humans in the loop? The reason for the playbook request: Most of us are not naturally good at explaining or understanding multivariate relationships - A caused B depending on C, D, and E, but only when F and G are present. Since you have 30 seconds to explain to your boss, "A caused B" would do the job. This sometimes leads to the belief that skills and knowledge can be structured into a decision tree or a playbook. This chain of reasoning is more flawed than a chocolate teapot in a sauna. You need human engineers and their experience, intuition, and ability to navigate the unexpected.

The AI Revolution isn't just knocking on our door; it's doing a full marching band parade on our front lawn. It's time we learned to dance to its tune - but let's make sure we're leading, not just following.

So, how are you riding this AI wave? Are you using AI to brainstorm the next big innovation, or are you secretly "worried" it might your CEO?

#AIFOMO #Brainstorm #AutomationFallacy #AIReady