Time for a AI reality check: The Good, Bad and the Weird

📨 Upgrade | 🛠 Tools | 🚀 Courses

Ahoy, friend 👋

It’s Friday, or Friyay as some tell me.

I thought I’d drop in for a quick chat before the week is out. 

As I sit here typing, the sun is shining in my part of the world, which is a rare occurrence for someone living in the North of England.

I received an interesting message in my DMs this week.

How do you come up with all these ideas?

Here’s the thing…

Finding ideas is not hard. Knowing which ones will be meaningful is.

This carries across many parts of life.

1. To buy or not to buy

2. To learn or not to learn

3. To use AI or not to use AI

Many people ask me how they can use Gen AI tools.

It's the wrong question.

The question/s you want to ask are:

• How can x help me

• What can x help me with

• Why can x help me with this

If you do land on Gen AI tools enhancing your work. Get clear with the 'how' using the framework below.

→ You don't outsource thinking to AI, you outsource the doing

→ You don't delegate everything, you collaborate intelligently

→ You find the mission-critical tasks only you can do

It might sound simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy.

Side note: Never look for problems for tools to solve. Find problems → then source the right tool for the job.

On the topic of Gen AI.

Here’s a little preview of the daily discussions I have with fellow humans:

Me: Generative AI can't do that.

Client: That's crap. It's useless!

Me: No, your understanding of how GEN AI works and tool selection for tasks is crap.

Obviously, I didn't say it quite like that.

Many drink the Kool-Aid from social media. Expecting Gen AI to do everything.

Why discovery is so important

A core part of my work with upskilling L&D teams starts with a discovery conversation.

When it comes to AI upskilling these are incredibly revealing for 3 reasons:

1. I get an idea of what they know vs what they think they know about Gen AI

2. Discover what they believe Gen AI can help with at work

3. Unpack what non-AI tech they already have

These 3 things tell me a lot about a team’s knowledge and maturity level.

It's safe to say that number 1 is where so many people fall.

↳ You can't use a tool intelligently if you don't understand how it works.

Better education = better skills

Gen AI tools have opportunities and limitations.

Spending the last year teaching 300+ students through my online course and working with 20 companies has validated a HUGE revelation for me:

There is a serious misconception about how GEN AI tools work that’s crippling many from maximising these tools.

The only way to change this is by being more curious about how they work.

__

If you fancy working with me to become AI-confident.

Enrol for lifetime access to my 2-hour AI crash course this weekend. 

Take care, friend.

I’ll speak with you in the regular edition on Tuesday.

📊 Weird AI + Human Research.

From Oliver Wyman’s AI report:

1. 14% of consumers said they prefer interacting with AI because they believe generative AI can be more emotionally intelligent than humans.

2. One in five consumers said they would go on a virtual date with an AI persona.

3. One in three consumers said they would purchase an AI-powered pet collar that translates animal sounds into language.

What a strange and exciting time to be alive.