The Dark Side of AI: Killing Creativity, Real Work, High Performing Talents and How Businesses Should Navigate It

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for quite a while, and day by day, it continues to spark excitement (and probably… suspicion). We see many businesses, old and new, diligently integrating AI into their latest products or solutions simply because that's what sells.

There's no doubt that the introduction of AI has led to countless benefits, such as better profit margins, automating mundane tasks, improving project management, and so on. But let's talk about the dark side of AI for a bit.

Disclaimer: The whole purpose of this article is not to stop you from exploring AI's potential but to look at its current (detrimental) effect and how we should deal with it.

The Dark Side of AI—Killing Creativity and Real Knowledge

While the original idea of AI is to hit more mundane and mindless jobs at first, we can see its wide applications across all industries. The latest case of a Fake Drake song is a clear example that all people, especially in the creative class, are at risk of being replaced entirely or partially by AI.

If you haven't heard of the Fake Drake case, it's about an AI emulator singing "Heart on My Sleeve.” The song quickly gained millions of streams before being pulled due to infringement on at least one other creative work. Many were fascinated by how well AI pulled off the Drake impression; some even preferred the AI-generated song over the artists’ original works.

If anything, the case of Fake Drake shows us that AI is now an indispensable part of the creative industry. AI involvement in the creative process at this stage is probably doing more harm than good. What if consumers like these fake artists better than the real ones? Will a record company need the real version?

But, the music industry is not the only one in the creative wars. Others are also heavily affected. Take content writing as an example, mainly content writing for SEO purposes. It's not rare to see that almost 90% of SEO tools nowadays are equipped with AI-writing features. Of course, it does help boost up the process, but if anyone (or should we say: anything) can now write an SEO-friendly article, the internet, which has already been filled with cookie-cutter content, will be submerged with 100% exactly the same content, and also a bunch of lazy writers.

Margaret Boden, a cognitive science expert, shared in her book The Creative Mind that there are two types of human creativity: psychological or personal creativity, which happens when someone thinks something for the first time (although others have thought it before), and historical creativity, which happens when someone thinks something that for the first time (think Newton's law of Universal Gravitation).

But AI doesn't belong in any of those categories. It can help promote by consolidating all data into one but limits the eureka moment. Reason? We could think too much alike if we all use AI to learn and work. Now, let's zoom out and look at the bigger picture in the next 30 years. Again, if we overuse AI, we'll probably experience decreased cognitive diversity. Society will become more rigid in the norms they enforce and less tolerant of deviations from the status quo. At a population level, this will kill creativity.

Without creativity, there is no innovation and no differentiation. Without creativity, we cannot solve complex problems or respond to crises effectively.

If all companies use AI to solve most problems and tasks, will there be any talent left?

Don't let AI overshadow and kill the talents within your companies. It's essential for your business's long-term success if you can identify these talents earlier and nurture their growth.

How?

Besides the regular performance reviews or 360 feedback from peers and managers, you can identify these talents by asking several retrospective questions:

• If I take away all these AI tools, can this person still perform well?
• Is their knowledge real, or are they just chauffeur? (read more about real vs chauffeur knowledge here)
• How can these current AI tools add to their already existing competencies?
• Can they be easily replaced by another (or AI)?

Key talent is usually a group of high-performing employees with unique skill sets that are hard to replace. Please don't argue that no one is non-replaceable; we talk about those who cannot be easily replaced (another disclaimer: don't fire everyone who doesn't fit in this hat! We'll talk about this in a different newsletter). Losing talent can have some serious consequences beyond financial implications: coworkers feel demotivated and disconnected, hanging tasks, time to train new hires, etc.

So, How Do We Manage and Retain High-Performance Employee in the Age of AI?

To effectively manage and retain these high-performance talents, there are several things you can do:

• Define your corporate strategy and key objectives, and be real about it. A vague statement like, “We want to become the best in the world” is not recommended.
• Determine your culture and see if there is room for improvement and flexibility. Some companies may adhere too strictly to their established culture.
• Nurture your employee career aspirations. We'd strongly recommend you judge their career aspirations, no matter if it's money, recognition, power, learning new things, or being innovative.
• Talent analytics to identify those with the right competencies that align with the company's goals. You can then make well-informed decisions regarding succession planning, resource allocation, and even communications.

Remember that the most successful company does not possess the most talents but knows how to leverage each individual's strengths and potential to operate. Understanding what talent you need in your company and having the right one for the right job is a go-to strategy.

Let us know your talent management and development strategy in the comment below, and if you find this article helpful, don't forget to follow us at CakeResume for Employers for more discussions.

Reference source: The Conversation, Kellog Insight

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