Last time we talked about how to befriend AI, explore the world of opportunities with it, while staying cognizant of dependency on it and asserting self as a true ruler in this symbiosis. It was about how we adjust to AI. This article continues the theme but with more emphasis on how we make AI to serve our needs.
The main idea is that:
- the short- and the long-term future remains uncertain,
- employment levels, professional stability, jobs will undergo significant changes,
- AI will likely revolutionize certain industries more than others, leading to varying degrees of job transformation,
- predicting the exact outcomes for specific companies and verticals is challenging, and
- any advice provided may quickly become outdated with the emergence of new AI technologies and trends.
Ultimately, the direction of AI’s impact depends on the choices we make, presenting both opportunities and challenges for the future.
Hence the only certain advice I can give you and myself:
- take a deep breath,
- don’t let anxiety and stress take over you,
- stay open-minded,
- continuously learn,
- keep carefully planning along a roadmap – “how to live with AI”.
One thing is clear that further focus on doing creative work and collaborating with AI to take it to the next level will become very important. That’s why you see so many references to creativity throughout this article.
Planning our future with AI
In order to quell your anxiety and worries make a mental picture to yourself and adjust it as you go – what type of activities:
- can be offloaded and automated away to AI.
Hence don’t venture getting busy with those things or upskilling yourself in those areas. - AI can be your assistant and valuable contributor at.
Then invite it to the table to brainstorm and iterate on creative work. Learn delegating to AI what can be delegated with no regrets. But final authority for the collaborative outcome and responsibility for it still lies on you. - you have status-quo on, your prized possession, and can’t be shared with AI. Though you need to be honest to yourself that indeed your expertise and level of finesse in your craft is not attainable by AI anytime soon.
Remember to revisit this “schedule” and update it every so often.
Creative Assistance to Humans
Let’s be honest, a significant portion of work is mundane and lacks substantial meaning. When acknowledging this not so pleasant reality, we can willingly redirect our focus towards enhancing our experience by doing creative work and, hence, gladly embrace AI.
Indeed, there is a sizable portion of tasks that can be considered creative work, particularly in domains where AI excels. Situations where definitive answers are elusive, and innovation is paramount, with room for expert users to detect minor errors, are plentiful. Having AI involved in discussions when doing creative work provides a cost-effective means of generating additional innovation and gaining a fresh perspective. Which employer would not appreciate this?
Tasks such as marketing collateral preparation, branding, all kinds of reviews – performance, product, audits, you name it, – and strategic memos fall within the purview of AI capabilities because they allow for interpretation and can be relatively easily validated for accuracy.
Moreover, since many of these document types are well-represented in AI training datasets and follow a somewhat formulaic approach, AI-generated outcomes often appear superior to human-generated ones and can be produced more rapidly as well. Voila, you become a hero in the organization!
Creativity vs Mistakes
Large Language Models are reverse engineering of millenia worth of human wisdom and cultural background codified in the form of texts. Unlike databases though, they don’t have comprehensive indexes that pinpoint exact knowledge references, nor outright recipes of potential utility of amassed knowledge.
That is good news for professionals deeply specialized in a particular domain to leverage open-minded and diverse AI knowledge in novel ways. A human specialist can push boundaries of creativity in unconventional ways by relying on AI unorthodox capabilities.
Having said that, when resorting to AI assistance we need to consciously strike a balance between AI capacity to perform creative, human-like tasks and its propensity to make mistakes. This is no different from working with a human partner, who can be creative and at times commits mistakes. The point is that the use-cases and our own threshold for AI mistake tolerance should be closely tailored before using AI assistance.
Along those lines, I often hear complaints about AI that it often defaults to the crowd-pleasing “average” response derived from its training data. And hence some argue that it lacks any originality from the get go. But there is nothing that prevents one from making AI more critically thinking with some effort. Think of it as an overly polite companion. We must urge the AI to move from providing an average answer to delivering a high-variance, unconventional one. AI needs to be nudged and reminded of its purpose in every specific case.
Unleashing Creative Self
Not everyone possesses the artistic prowess of iconic figures like Pablo Picasso or Ernest Heminguway. Let’s face it, most of us aren’t even remotely close to reaching such levels of talent. However, that doesn’t mean that we have no potential to be particularly expressive in something that we cherish. Yet more often than not many of us end up with resignation and a sense of unfulfilled creative energy.
GenAI helps polish our thoughts, augmenting them by taking us into uncharted waters, exploring new avenues without postponing to better times, “if only properly educated”. Which gets unnecessarily postponed forever. This time around though we can unleash our creativity – NOW! For one, I use GenAI daily to brainstorm and explore ideas and thoughts ranging from light to rather involved topics. It is an indispensable ever patient co-creative mate of mine.
But there are some dangers lurking in relying too much on AI in the process of co-creation:
- initial thought drafts.
When AI generates initial drafts, we may not exert as much effort or engage in as deep a level of critical analysis and reflection as required for truly creative work. Latching onto the first idea proposed by AI, which subsequently influences the rest of the work, as a consequence may potentially lead to a decline of the depth and quality of critical thinking and reasoning.
- creative endeavors are typically expected to involve careful thought and revision, with time serving as a proxy for effort. Which is not a case with AI. The rewards are instantaneous without leaving room for a creative pause.
We learn and get better by making mistakes and revisiting rough edges. When collaborating with AI we need to cultivate the habit of continuously asking AI for feedback, have a discipline of going through many iterations and develop our personal creative style.
AI competing with us
Nearly all of our occupations will intersect with the capabilities of AI. The risks associated with collaborating with AI extend beyond rendering ourselves obsolete, including the peril of placing excessive reliance on AI for work like in mission critical applications. This can get further exacerbated by AI performance becoming so high that we lose motivation to stay attentive. And thus instead of leveraging AI as a tool, they take control, potentially hindering our learning and skill enhancement.
That is why any prediction on how AI will influence our work prospects hinges on better understanding of the changing dynamics of human interaction with AI. This requires proper continuous evaluation of what challenging tasks were given to AI and how its handling of them evolved. It assumes a considerable investment of time and experience, underscoring the importance of integrating AI in our daily professional life.
Following this approach will help us figure out what and to what extent can be outsourced to AI and how it aligns with us. When assigning tasks to AI, we need to capitalize on its strengths while being watchful of our weaknesses. The ultimate objective of inviting AI to our daily professional life is to:
- enhance efficiency,
- alleviate mundane tasks and preserve human oversight,
- all while recognizing the unique value of AI.
AI Reshaping Workplace
When speculating how AI may impact our professional landscape it is important to keep in mind that unlike most recent technological advancements in the past few decades it goes way beyond algorithmic task accomplishment. LLMs may additionally furnish feedback and coach us to enhance our skills and productivity. This is quite monumental, if you ask me.
It is not just about how AI will impact our own work, profession, but how it will shape the whole system within which our jobs will be touched. To keep the system functioning many jobs won’t vanish or morph overnight. They are intertwined in the system of accepted practices, norms and regulations. So that’s good news. But don’t lower your guards. The system will change with AI introduction in every corner. It is in your best interest to be prepared to blend in within an evolving system.
Additionally the work dynamics will be significantly reshaped with AI serving as a powerful equalizer, elevating everyone to a high level of proficiency:
- those with the weakest skill sets will benefit the most from AI, yet
- even top performers will experience gains.
Arguably skill levels may become a less decisive factor as AI enables lower-skilled workers to perform tasks efficiently in less time. This could lead to a rise in mass unemployment or underemployment, prompting the need for policy interventions such as a shortened workweek or universal basic income to safeguard human welfare. Let’s leave this hugely important topic to some future article.
Once again, many things are up in the air. AI brings lots of choices to make, presenting both opportunities and challenges for the future. The key is a proper continuous education. Reading bite-sized articles on this site will help you stay confident while facing an exciting yet uncertain future with AI.
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