Greg Larkin on why AI is no replacement for punks in business

The argument that robots are going to steal our jobs is not a new one.

In fact, the adoption of AI within organizations has more than doubled since 2017, and is predicted to continue to rise. One recent survey showed that 69% of college graduates believed that AI could take their job or make it obsolete in a few years time, and Elon Musk caused mass hysteria after being quoted saying “There certainly will be a job disruption. Because what’s going to happen is robots will be able to do everything better than us”.

Whether you’re for, against, or completely perplexed by AI, there’s no denying that it’s going to shake things up, and as a leader of a business it’s important to be clued up and prepared. In Sasha’s latest conversation with CEO, author and one of the world’s most prominent thought leaders on digital innovation, Greg Larkin, he tells us where he stands in the debate and why punks are in no danger of being replaced by AI robots.

The Importance of Human Emotion

Yes, AI might not become tired or sluggish, it might not have a bad night's sleep the night before a deadline or need to take sick pay, but its lack of human experience is also its downfall, according to Larkin.

“Any time anyone offers advice without experience you should be a little bit skeptical” he states in the most recent CEO News Podcast, hosted by Sasha Garcia.?

This makes sense, considering he attributes a large chunk of his success to hiring the misfits of society; the people who have real experience and who aren’t afraid to go against the rules. AI robots can certainly be programmed to follow rules, but if we’re to listen to Larkin, it’s the people who want to break them that we should be interested in:

“There’s something that doesn’t get included in the models that young investment bankers spend 100 hours a week building… It's called human beings who are emotional, irrational, messy, and complicated. People who will destroy great business ideas when it seems like they might lose their job if they come into fruition.”

Larkin built his network ‘Punks & Pinstripes’ because he saw the importance of the messy, complicated nature of human beings? - a network which now consists of 100 of the greatest change-makers and innovators who are all ‘owning their weird’.

Questions to ask potential candidates to spot the punks:

1. When did you last quit your job? If they can’t answer this, they are lying and therefore aren’t a punk.
2. Who is the best person you’ve worked with and who did you hate working with/ who hated working with you?
3. What's the most thrilling breakthrough you’ve ever built and biggest disaster you’ve been responsible for?

For Larkin, a person who has? been fired multiple times is a better candidate than someone who has played it safe:

“They haven't memorized the playbook, they're going into it knowing it will get hard. I want to know that! Innovation is hard!” Larkin says.?

This is all very well, but what about the claims that AI will take over huge companies like Google??

“I don’t think that’s true”, Larkin says. “Google serves a very different purpose than Chat GPT. Google will have its own answer for a generative AI product. In the same way that Microsoft Word and Office can co-exist and compete with each other”.?

So… is there any need for AI at all?

AI can in fact be hugely beneficial to growing a company, as Larkin tells Sasha: “Too many punks in a room will become anarchy!”. To balance out the free-thinking punks, it is important to have methodological thinkers too. And this is where AI can come in useful.?

Many people who join a company end up working on menial, repetitive tasks and forget how to use their brain critically or creatively. In this sense, AI is the perfect tool to make these tasks more efficient so that workers can focus on using their creativity and critical thinking skills again. It appears then that AI can work in tandem with workers (without stealing any jobs!). This is supported by a report stating “Technological change — both gaining and losing jobs — was disruptive but, in the long run, not destructive” in an article titled “Will robots steal our jobs?”

Pick your side: Change or Innovation

In a period of flux, Larkin urges businesses to be clear on whether they are on the side of change or the side of innovation, as he says “Innovation is going to be seen as speculative and wasteful, even if it's not. Change is going to be seen as urgent and important”.?

Tips:

-If you are on the wrong side, pivot now!

-If you’re exploring emerging technology but haven’t found a market or revenue base for it, cut it now before you experience further loss.

-Remember it’s a tough funding environment, interest rates are high - ensure your focus is on practical, pragmatic ways of solving real problems in a faster, cheaper and more effective way than before.

Conclusion

It’s important that you understand the ways in which AI can help to improve your business. Rather than adopting an either/ or attitude, ask yourself what sectors of the business could be improved with the use of AI. Most importantly, remember that the human aspect of a business is what makes it invaluable - and the punks are here to stay.