The Weekly Spark #8: “AI and humans inspire boundless innovation together” ChatGPT
Last week I received comments from a few concerned readers asking me if I was serious when I concluded that “if you don’t want to think, then just ask ChatGPT to do it for you”. Indeed it was a joke but it prompted me to a small experiment – I asked ChatGPT if it can think for me. The answer was “I don’t have personal thoughts or consciousness. I generate responses based on patterns learned during training. My aim is to assist and provide information to the best of my abilities”. So today I will talk about what everyone else is talking about: AI. However, I will do it under a different lens, a personal one.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, AI has been the talk of the town in 2023 and is expected to be also in 2024, with more than 70% of CES presentations in Las Vegas revolved uniquely around this topic; as well as Big Tech companies reporting significant incremental revenue streams in 2023 and boosting strong share value increase (Microsoft above all) thanks to AI. A category that is expected to be worth ?over $300 billion by the end of this year and is expected to have an even stronger impact in our everyday lives than the advent of Internet, according to various experts such as Brad Gerstner. ??
The Hype Cycle & The Truth
Whether the above claim is realistic or not, there is no doubt that we’re at the peak of what is known as “the hype cycle” – the process that all our innovations, good or bad, go through. The cycle is part of the process of moving something new from the domain of early adopters (5-10% of the population) to the mass (80% of the population). Central to this is the modern 24-hour media cycle and its constant need for new, attention-grabbing headlines. When a new, potentially dramatic trend or subject is identified (often picking up on PR), it spawns a wave of speculation as millions of articles are pumped out in a limited amount of time in order to wring the most value out of the topic before it is replaced by the next big thing. This is the same cycle that happened to Bitcoin, which saw its value rise from $15 to $60.000, or that’s currently happening with the Apple Vision Pro. Nevertheless, what always happens with the hype cycle is that once it has reached its peak, it has nowhere to go but down, because it’s not new anymore and loses the interest of the majority of the people: those that are hyped because everyone else is. Most innovations don’t survive this part (e.g. the Google Glass or Bitcoin that saw its value fall drastically after the peak moment). This phase is the moment of truth, because it will show which players really believe in the innovation – the ones who hold to it when there isn’t anymore hype – and make it to the other side (if there is one).
What’s on the other side? If the innovation holds, it will reach the “plateau” phase which is when users start embracing the innovation in their everyday lives but don’t consider it new anymore – essentially they get used to it, it becomes part of their rituals. Clearly AI will make it to the other side and will bring a massive change, but the majority of what we hear today comes from simple speculation of people and companies who talk about it because it’s part of the hype. The truth is in the middle. ??
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What’s in it for us?
I believe the majority of jobs will change – to my point in the introduction, AI will be (if it isn’t already) far better than humans to generate responses based on information, to analyze data and to see patterns in just a few milliseconds. According to a podcast episode with Bill Gates and Sam Altman, in a few years AI might be able to start a business or to manufacture cars for example.
What it won’t be able to do is experience. There is a big difference between elaborating data and experiencing – the latter is the source of creativity and novelty. There is a reason why in the era of industrialization and standardization we have not managed to duplicate Picasso, Michelangelo or Stanley Kubrick. Creativity cannot be industrialized because you need experience, emotions and intuition to go through the creative process; something that machines don’t have because it’s personal. With AI I will be able to reproduce perfectly the Guernica or use the same cinematography style of Kubrick to make my movie, but I will not be considered a great creator because it doesn’t come from me. In my view, the ones that will succeed are those who will use AI as input for their creativity, on top of other inspirations such as going for a walk or being immersed in nature. ?
Given what the future holds, maybe it’s finally the time we start thinking and acting less as machines and more as humans?? ????
What exciting developments do you see on the horizon for marketing innovation?
"Innovation is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought." - Dr. Albert Szent-Gy?rgyi ?? Creativity drives us forward in ways unimaginable. Speaking of driving forward, there's a chance to be part of a monumental step towards sustainability with a Guinness World Record in Tree Planting. Let's innovate for a greener tomorrow together! Check this out for an exciting opportunity: https://bit.ly/TreeGuinnessWorldRecord ???
"Remember, Steve Jobs once said, 'Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.'?? Keep pushing the boundaries! Your journey in #innovation, #creativity, and #marketing is shaping the future. ????"
So, continuing these random thoughts - I believe that for every clever decision/creation there will be people always surpassing it. And we can do that only by staying humans, as you’ve said. BTW that’s a thrilling question in the end of your spark?? And btw AI is always-always I guess based on the human input of the yesterday, not today. As it can’t react to the outer world the way we do, thus it can react to the today changed world with its outdated yesterday information. So for me it can just mix and remix the descriptions of feelings, thoughts of the human being. It doesn’t have any own feelings, sensations, sensibility and they’re the most powerful power of the humans?? Meaning the AI always needs our input…heh. Let’s see:) (My comment is based on the assumption that the world would be developing under “normal” conditions meaning e.g. no UFO would come:)) Grazie mille for sharing your opinion and especially urging us to grow our human inside!
Marvelous spark Daniel Nemni Hope not written by AI ?? The great thing with AI and the fast world we live in is that we start appreciating our “humanicity” more than before..i hope so.. Imho AI may fasten the world even more as the internet and electricity did. As people may use it for their never ending needs which might create even more jobs. Personally I see AI only as an instrument in hands of people. Jobs may change but I don’t believe people will be drastically losing jobs as I’m used to hear, just will be changing them according to the changes in the world. In the end of the day companies must sell products created with the help of AI and someone needs to pay money for them. And it must be a lot of able to pay consumers/or a little but able to pay much …if the economics/financial system doesn’t change. To that, one day the AI will be used not by 10 richest companies but by the majority…so it should continue getting even more sophisticated/creative/inventive/unique for the company to keep its leadership. And for its development is needed consumer base to understand what to improve and professionals doing that. As the AI by itself is just a circuit without urges/desires…and companies can’t sell anything to it.