This isn't "Only AI Things You Should Know"

Even though I've only had one or two topics unrelated to AI in three editions so far, this is a general digital strategy, marketing, and innovation psychology newsletter where I share news and my opinions that I believe you need to know about.

All of that said, most of this week's topics are AI related, but end up covering my 30,000 foot view topics too.

NUMBER #1 - The Singularity: Closer Than We Think

I'm halfway through Ray Kurzweil's newest book "The Singularity is Nearer - When We Merge with AI" and it's keeping me up at night. I live and breathe innovation and advances so thinking about topics like merging man and machine isn't that unusual.

In 2005, he released his first book on the topic "The Singularity is Near - When Humans Transcend Biology". The Singularity is a theoretical point in the future where artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence, leading to rapid, unpredictable technological growth. Kurzweil believes we'll likely merge with this technology, fundamentally changing human existence.

Within the next 25 years.

Kurzweil's Updated Predictions

When Kurzweil wrote his first book about it 19 years ago, he predicted we'd hit that moment sometime in 2045. He predicted we'd achieve artificial general intelligence, AGI or human level thinking, by 2029.

In the new book, just out, he's moved AGI up to within a few years of today. Some predictions had compute power growing by just 75% over that 19 year gap. Instead, it's grown by tens of thousand percentages and it's not slowing down.

Personal Reflections on AI Evolution

The book is technical and sometimes jumps way above my head. But I know it's an important enough class on evolution, that I need to keep attending and taking notes.

Anyone else out there as fascinated by this as I am?

I've written some creative fiction about my ideas around it years ago. And I'm finding ways to explore them now using GenAI tools that I never could before. Which leads right in to...

NUMBER #2 - GenAI: A Double-Edged Sword for Creativity

A new GenAI research article from Science Advances covers a study that resonated with me. Individuals who use Generative AI tools like Dall-E or Midjourney see an explosion in their creativity. Freed from traditional artistic training, you can jump from concept to output without needing an appreciation of how it got there.

Personal Experience with AI-Assisted Creativity

As an individual, I'm thrilled to explore my creative ideas using tools that elevate my output and advance my thinking. As a strategist and marketer, I know I'm not replacing the creatives around me. If anything, I can finally bring them something more than my traditional caveman-stick art.

From my own experience, GenAI tools have definitely re-lit creative fires that have been hanging with me for decades. I recently used Ideogram to visualize a sci-fi concept I've had for years - a bio-mechanical jellyfish that that serves as the framework for a business project.

Seeing this idea come to life sparked new plot points and character designs I hadn't imagined before.?The newsletter has also given me an outlet to share them.

Do I think I'm an artist now? Definitely not. I'm learning to use a rapidly advancing toolset to expand my own creativity while staying at the cutting edge of my industry. I'm lucky it's my day job.

The Paradox of Collective Creativity

While AI tools could boost a persons creative output by removing production barriers, there's a risk that humankind's collective creativity could decrease as we all draw inspiration from similar AI-generated sources. This creates a paradox: more individual creativity, but potentially less originality overall.

What's your experience been? Are you feeling more or less creative since you've used tools like ChatGPT, DALL-E, Midjourney and others?

While we explore the creative potential of AI, it's crucial to consider the regulatory landscape shaping its development and use.

NUMBER #3 - The EU's AI Act deadline is almost here

Do you work for a global organization? If so, have you seen any emails about the EU's AI Act? A few key things as important deadlines near.

Key Dates and Milestones

• July 12, 2024: Official publication of the EU AI Act
• August 1, 2024: Staged implementation begins
• February 2025: Prohibition of certain AI systems takes effect
• August 2026: Full enforcement of the Act

A Global Impact

Any business interacting with customers in the EU, not just European businesses, after August must abide by the rules or face fines up to 35M Euros. That's similar to how the European privacy rules GDPR were rolled out. There's space for innovation and testing. The EU regulators knew they would be taken to task if they cut off businesses from innovating on home soil.

Preparing for Compliance

There are three things you can do relatively quickly to ensure your business is taking the steps necessary to show progress and movement towards compliance.

1. Review and update AI related policies. The pace of change and looming regulatory leanings occupied a fair amount of my thinking in February and March.
2. Monitor developments related to AI regulations. Your compliance officer or others should be doing, but as an organization it's now critical.
3. Create a Responsible AI Usage Policy for your business if you haven't already. This kept me up enough before Kurzweil's book that I wrote a Guide to Responsible AI & Business for my solo consulting business.

Why It Matters

The EU AI Act will set a global precedent for AI regulation, affecting how businesses develop, deploy, and use AI technologies. It aims to ensure AI safety and protect individual rights, but may also impact innovation and global competitiveness in the AI field.

When I realized the AI Act is set to take effect in two weeks, I put time on my calendar for my bi-annual update to ensure I'm staying compliant with my own practices. I'll update you on that two newsletters from now.

Will the EU's new AI Act affect your business? If so, I'd love to hear what you and your teams are doing to prepare.

PART TWO - What's the Problem? WFH Trouble Takedown

This is the 4th edition of my bi-weekly newsletter. The previous three have all launched on Tuesday. This week, I wrapped on Wednesday night, setting it to publish Thursday.

My current plan gives me the lenience to stay within my "bi-weekly" rights and call it good. But I also have a nagging feeling if it doesn't go out on Tuesdays, the consistency of it will be off, causing a destabilizing effect that could cascade into not publishing. I won't let that happen, but that's how my brain works.

I made the mistake of thinking I could do a "fast and clean" setup on a computer a good friend lent me while I'm between laptops.

So this week's video was my scramble today to ensure I had a video segment as promised. Not what I was hoping for, but it was a good use of another GenAI tool I'm using from Epipheo.ai. My first GenAI apology video!

That's it for this week, you in two. I welcome your feedback, reactions, and discourse.