The Creative Generalist

In an age when the promise of a bright, AI future is ceaselessly exalted, hyped to the point of attention fatigue - where new tools promising features that were hitherto unbelievable are launched every other day - we are missing the quiet rise of a new breed of employee (or freelancer) - The Creative Generalist.?

At the risk of sounding hyperbolic (but then in today's world, the distinction between hyperbole and fact is blurring in the manner of Arthur C Clarke's famous observation about sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic), I'd venture to add that the creative generalist is a necessary evolution for the survival of our species.?

For as we stand on the precipice of an epoch in which generative AI tools will be as ubiquitous as the air we breathe, it seems that the continuing obsession with specialization may in fact be a counter-productive force, a siren song luring us to the rocky shores of obsolescence. It is also worth remembering that specialization was originally an outcome of the industrial revolution. Steam engines still sit at the souls of our corporate cultures. One could not, in the 1930s, both build dams and design automobiles. But then the 1930s mechanical engineer did not have GPT-4 or Point-E

Every generation of disruptive technology tends to do something we don't always do a good job of observing. It wraps settled knowledge (like say, Newton's laws, material sciences, or bubble sort algorithms) into composable and programmable black boxes. If you didn't know how to navigate, you couldn't be a sailor 50 years ago. Now, everyone has Google Maps. This current generation of AI tools will wrap quite possibly the largest chunk of collective human wisdom in the sciences, engineering, medicine, and creative arts into black boxes that have the potential to make a wider range of people operate at the level of an expert. I am of course not belittling or deliberatively ignoring the risks of forgetting how the sausage is made, but that deserves its own post. Allow me some unbridged optimism for just this post.

So what exactly is a Creative Generalist? The term, at once enigmatic and evocative, refers to the renaissance of the Renaissance person, the polymath who dips a toe - or rather, multiple toes - into various pools of knowledge, synthesizing and cross-pollinating ideas with an agility that defies categorization. Think less da Vinci with his paintbrush, more da Vinci with his quill, his blueprints, and his mind set on the future.?

In this brave new world of creative generalism, picture an architect with a flair for biotechnology, weaving together the aesthetics of design with the principles of living organisms to create sustainable, self-repairing structures.?

Envision an artist versed in neuroscience, exploring the intricacies of the human mind to create immersive experiences that challenge our perceptions of reality.?

Contemplate a musician who wields the tools of data analysis, composing symphonies that resonate with our emotions on a mathematical level. As a musician myself, I can tell you that these are not merely science-fiction prognostications, but a couple of GitHub clone requests away.?

These luminaries, straddling multiple disciplines and industries, embody the essence of the Creative Generalist: a figure unbound by the constraints of specialization, free to forge new paths in the vast, uncharted territories that lie at the intersections of human knowledge. While AI Copilots of various hues quietly assist behind the scenes, like veritable Jeeveses to a bedlam of Woosters.?

Imagine, too, a doctor who seamlessly melds the realms of AI and computational genetics to revolutionize the field of personalized medicine. A physician-cum-data-scientist could design bespoke cures tailored to each patient's unique genetic makeup. By transcending the traditional boundaries of medical specialization, this polymathic healer pioneers a new era of precision healthcare, enabling treatments that are more effective, efficient, and empathetic than ever before. In doing so, the Creative Generalist doctor exemplifies the transformative potential of interdisciplinary thinking and sets a new standard for the future of human well-being.

Yet what is it about this new age that makes the Creative Generalist not only relevant but indeed, essential? The answer lies, perhaps counterintuitively, in the very nature of the technology itself. For AI, in its relentless march towards progress, has become a veritable ouroboros, a snake that devours its own tail - a symbol of self-destruction rather than regeneration.

Consider the paradox of the generative AI tool, designed to mimic the creative genius of the human mind, but in doing so, ultimately supplanting the need for the very expertise it seeks to emulate. The specialist, once lauded for their laser-focused mastery of a single domain, now finds themselves relegated to the role of a cog in the machine, a relic of a bygone era when the minutiae of craftsmanship were valued above all else.

The Creative Generalist, in contrast, is uniquely positioned to not only weather the storm of AI-assisted automation but indeed, to thrive in its wake. The goal is to wake up every day morning and find out what new skill has been black-boxed and learn to sport a new and more powerful exoskeleton.

One might posit, then, that the Creative Generalist is not simply a reaction to the rise of generative AI, but rather, a necessary counterweight, a balancing force that serves to restore equilibrium in a world tipped perilously towards specialization. For it is not in the narrowly defined confines of a single discipline that innovation flourishes, but rather, in the fertile breeding grounds where disparate ideas and perspectives are free to mingle and meld. In the short term, creative generalists and specialists need to dance together. Right now we have tech bros overestimating their generalist skills and specialists gatekeeping knowledge and membership. This has to change.?

The Creative Generalist, in this sense, is both an antidote and a catalyst - a figure capable of resisting the siren song of specialization and the overconfidence of techno-utopianism, while simultaneously harnessing the transformative power of generative AI to push the boundaries of human achievement. In embracing the virtues of breadth over depth, the generalist is poised to become a linchpin in the creative ecosystem, a vital agent of change in a world that increasingly demands flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to synthesize vast swaths of information (Just ask your M365 Co-pilot to do the heavy-lifting though)?

Do you know who your organization's creative generalists are? Do you think they will have the freedom to connect the dots as they soar across siloes?

#futureofwork #artificialintelligence #creativity TCS AI & Advanced Tech 微软