Should Executives Fear AI?

“You’re worried that your job will become extinct, aren’t you?”?

“Yes.”

This is the exact conversation I had with a content creator on my team late last year as we discussed our first use of ChatGPT. The task was to quickly produce a slew of articles to help us generate a strong presence on social media in a new category for us. This number of articles would take time–more time than we had. It couldn’t be done that quickly.?

Enter, ChatGPT!

It was our first opportunity to test this new tool. If ChatGPT could deliver on its hype, we would be able to produce the content we needed. But from the perspective of this content creator, if ChatGPT could deliver on the hype, she would be out of a job.

We are in a new world. Technology keeps changing, rapidly. In the 90’s, businesses were slow to adopt PCs much less laptops. Later there was resistance to switching over to cell phones. Since then, one after another new technologies has come along, each of which is met with skepticism or fear or even grief for the loss of “the way it’s always been.” So yes, we’re in a new world. And two years from now, we’ll be in yet another new world.?

Adapt or Die

It sounds harsh, maybe even overly-dramatic to say “adapt or die” when it comes to new AI technology. But the reality is that it’s pointless to resist. Instead of worrying about the problems that AI or any new technology might bring, and certainly there will be new problems, think of how it can be leveraged to improve life.?

In the case of my conversation with the content creator about ChatGPT, this was an easy attitude transformation as the discussion continued:

“Would you consider the job of editor to be a higher position than writer?”

“Yes.”

“Well congratulations, you just got elevated.”?

I explained that ChatGPT couldn’t possibly nail content 100%. Oh sure it could generate something passable. But we need excellence in communication. The difference between good content and great content is the turn of a phrase, a specific tone, a single word placement. If ChatGPT could crank out a dozen articles in rapid order, my colleague could spend her time taking those articles from good to great. She was able to see this, and we were able to deliver on our objectives.

I recently saw a great TV ad for Virgin Voyages that parodied the idea of AI ad creation by showing very backroom individuals acting out the words, body movements, and facial expressions of an ad. The scene cut back and forth from this creative room to the end product, where their words and expressions were converted by AI into the persona and voice of Jennifer Lopez. It’s cleverly done. But it also shows a reality–that creative production of the future will offer possibilities that are drastically cheaper, more flexible, and have the ability to achieve things we can’t today. Now that’s exciting.?

Imagine the new doors that will open up as this new capability affords new creative options. Myopic designers and writers might simply try to use AI to create what they have in the past. But visionary creatives will see new possibilities and we’ll begin to enjoy some surprising, fun, exciting new creative ideas.??

As an executive, you should be prepared for new regulations, new legal challenges, new complaints and other speed bumps that will surely accompany the advent of AI. But more importantly, you should be prepared to leverage every new cost saving, increase in production, improvement in quality, and, of course, opportunities not yet conceived.?

Full disclosure: I did not use ChatGPT to write this article.?

Steve Gándola is an executive that has led teams of marketers across a wide range of industries.

??????????????