Overwhelmed by AI? How to Take Control

Often when I talk to people about artificial intelligence, very quickly their eyes glaze over with a look of confusion bordering on fear. The future just seems so complicated, impenetrable, impossible to imagine.

That's the uncertainty in their minds talking. And indeed there is a lot of uncertainty in the future – by some measures, the future is all uncertainty. But I say, so what??

There is so much outside of your control it's easy to forget what IS within your control. Futurists focus on what could happen and what they want to happen, with the aim of leveraging whatever control they have to maximise their influence over the outcome. Nothing else matters.

So what do you have control over?

1. Your attitude. Is artificial intelligence going to upend your industry or job function? Who knows? But by leaning into the uncertainty, you'll be the first to know. To keep your head in the sand is to give up your influence over the future.
2. What you pay attention to. Most information about AI, as with most information in general, is just noise. It's irrelevant to you. So you need to be crystal clear about what's important, and get good information on that. If you're in human resources, for example you should keep up to date with how AI is influencing the work within your company, and how it can assist with your specific tasks. Filter out the rest.
3. How you educate yourself. A lot of people are simply ignoring AI tools because they think they're unreliable. And they're right. But by not experimenting with them, their learning curve is steepening for the time when a must-use tool becomes available. Get your eye in now.

Most AI tools you can get your hands on now are useless, some are only marginally useful, and a very few have killer applications. Rather than worry what's coming down the road, be willing to try and fail. A bad experience is still experience, and will serve you well as the technologies mature.

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