“No, AI isn’t going to take over the world and make us all less intelligent”.
I made this declaration to a colleague recently and it sparked a conversation about work and human potential. The “AI revolution” has certainly unleashed a tsunami of headlines, each more dramatic than the last. However, here’s why I think we should not be afraid of incorporating AI into our work –
The purpose is amplifying, not replace human intelligence
AI tools can handle routine tasks effectively, help in drafting copy, and can also help us process large amounts of information. This frees us humans up to focus on what machines can’t replicate or replace:
- Building authentic relationships
- Reading emotional nuances, and responding to them
- Understanding the human elements that drive success
This ties into Emotional intelligence (EI), which Merriam-Webster defines as “the ability to recognize, understand, and deal skillfully with one’s own emotions and the emotions of others (as by regulating one’s emotions or by showing empathy and good judgment in social interactions)”.
AI can help draft communications and strategic plans, however, it can’t build the rapport and cohesion that turn people into teams that enable those strategies. It can’t go the extra mile to transform clients into champions because of the trust they feel. These aspects of EI go a long way in terms of productivity gains, and ROI! I like to remind myself that “AI can do SOME things well, but it can’t do EVERYTHING well”.
Low-Risk Learning, High-Value Returns
The barrier to entry for using AI tools has never been lower. With abundant open-source tools and integrated AI features in existing platforms, everyone can become an AI practitioner of sorts.
Practice, explore, and see what tools are out there for you to use, and leverage in your workflows. Master one tool, and you’ll find the principles transfer to others and you gain more confidence.
Build a list of the tools that work for you. Notate how they help you, what you use them for, and their URL. This keeps you organized. It also serves as a handy reference if you want to standardize tooling at your organization or in your team.
Enhancing Your Skills Through AI
Every interaction with AI tools can enhance our cognitive abilities, this “sharpening the sword” is extremely valuable:
- Decision-making: Evaluating your AI outputs helps you develop stronger judgment. Therefore, you should not treat your AI output as “one and done.” YOU decide whether the output generated meets your needs. TIP: To help, try prompting the AI tool to outline the reasoning behind the output. This helps you see the logic that led to the output.
- Communication: Crafting effective instructions for AI tools, in the form of prompts, demands clarity and purpose. Since there isn’t just one way to prompt, there is quite a lot of personal style that can be injected here. TIP: I use the acronym CARE to frame my prompts. It stands for Context, Aim, Roles, and Expression. This method is a good guideline for remembering what to include in a prompt.
- Critical thinking: When evaluating an AI-generated output, do you consider the hallmarks of critical thinking?
- Observation involves looking at details.
- Analysis requires considering sources, arguments, and theories.
- Inference is about drawing your own logical conclusion.
Remembering to do this mental exercise is a great reality check before you accept an output as final.
Would love to hear YOUR thoughts!
How are you adopting AI in your daily activities, while maintaining your human superpowers? Comment with your experience.
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Illuminira Consulting, LLC 