From (Work) Slave to Master - How AI changes our Work Processes
Christian Staedter
Gaming & Esports Researcher || Fulltime University || Entrepreneur || Esports Freelancer
Hey all,
A few months ago, when ChatGPT took over the internet, everyone agreed that a major shift in various parts of society had begun. One of the topics ?experts“ like to discuss is the impact on jobs and work processes. In that light, let's take a look at how AI influences our work processes and what it means for parts of the workforce.
?? The Slave’s Working Process Pre-AI
Before the AI era, we had to complete the entire task from start to finish by ourselves (except for team projects, of course). We had to generate a solution (thinking) and implement it (acting). At the same time, assessing the quality and feasibility of what we were doing required constant evaluation.
When we think about our work process, it probably looks something like this:
When we want to complete a task, we usually have a goal in mind, whether it's making a coffee, petting our cat, or preparing something for our boss. This serves as our starting point. In our heads, we ask ourselves two questions: What do we want to do? and When are we done? We also need a way to determine the status of the task. The process constantly evaluates how things are going and answers the question: Where are we in the process of completing the task?
At the same time, we continuously assess the quality of the process and is doability. Doability means that the process or solution we're working on seems sufficient to accomplish the goal. The question you are constantly evaluating is if the solution you’re working on needs adjustments or not, or has to be thrown overboard completely. If the latter is the case, we go back and use what we've learned to generate a different approach to reach the goal.
?? The Slave becomes a Master
Now, let's bring in ChatGPT. Think of it as an employee you don't pay, available to you 24/7. It essentially becomes your personal slave. It can't do all the work for you, but it can handle certain parts of it. Generating solutions and implementing them are areas where ChatGPT comes in handy. You can input prompts and get a result or a solution, depending on the problem.
As a result, your work process changes, and you become the master. However, it would be wrong to assume that the work process remains the same. In fact, there is a shift and change in the work process.
??? The Master's Work Process
As you can see, two steps have been added to the work process. Instead of putting a similar workload into generating and implementing a solution, your work and workload shift. Now, formulating the problem that needs to be solved and evaluating the quality of the solutions ChatGPT provides become your main focus.
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When using AI, the first crucial step is to formulate the problem. This is something we usually do unconsciously, as our mind takes care of it effortlessly. Now, we have to think about how to communicate with AI so that it understands what we want from it. It's like explaining to a child what you want them to do, such as cleaning up a room. You have to explain what "cleaning up" means, where each toy goes, and the order in which to do things.
The second most workload-intensive step in the work process is guiding the solution-finding process. When ChatGPT provides a solution, it's unlikely that you'll be satisfied with it immediately. You may need to adjust your input or add restrictions, and then ChatGPT tries again. This step cycles until you get a result that you deem suitable for completing the task at hand.
?? It is crucial to get used to AI and learn how to work with it, not against it. It has seen the light, and it’ll never go away again. If you don’t learn to work with it, you will fall behind in your job, or in your personal life.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a blind advocate for AI. There are a lot of downsides to it (false information, unknown negative potential etc.). But people should be aware of the changes that have started and adapt to the new situation.
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See you next week!
~Christian ??