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Today’s Thoughts ☠️

Hey there 👋,

Something I wish we spent more time focusing on.

Today, we’ll explore, why being human is your most valuable skill in the AI era.

Get your tea or beverage of choice ready, 🍵.

We've got lots to discuss!

👀 In today’s chat:

• Why AI is only as good as the Human using it
  

• Harvard psychiatrist explains how to improve your relationship with feedback

• Step by step tutorial of Google’s little-known note taking and research tool

FYI, the AI For Business Bootcamp is now sold out! If you want to get early access to the next cohort, drop your name on the waitlist.

THE BIG THOUGHT
AI is Only As Good As The Human Using It

The question is no longer can you use AI for x.

Its should you.

I see about 100 ‘new AI apps’ weekly. They can’t all be AI-powered but it’s getting harder to tell. There’s a weird blurry line where people are reaching to AI-first for anything, and I mean ANYTHING!

There’s a great deal I believe you shouldn’t delegate to AI.

Especially for L&D.

I know this is a somewhat complicated statement from someone who has spent the past few years sharing the power, potential and promise of generative AI tools.

I love digital technology (which expands further than AI).

AI is incredibly useful (hence why I write about it so much). But, I don’t want it to replace some of the most fundamental experiences that make us human.

Parts of the workplace learning experience fall under this banner.

On the topic of working smart

AI tools have great capabilities.

In fact, I’m working my way through a huge report that’s shown how it expands our capabilities to take on tasks outside of our current skillset (more on that next week).

Kinda like having a superpower for only 20 minutes.

I feel like AI tools can help us work smart, but the jury is out on how much is meaningful and if we learn how to amplify this in other spaces without AI.

Learning is an everyday behaviour, wether you realise that or not.

We call upon an ecosystem of tools both digital and organic to help us learn and put that into action. My slight fear at present is that we have an over reliance with AI tools.

Forgetting the human is not advised.

Together, not divided

I have an example of this in my work.

Earlier this year, I worked with a client on an onboarding program, which in their words needed, “a digital makeover”. At the time of outreach, I wasn’t sure what that meant. I had a few ideas, though.

One of those turned out to be true.

Their Chief People Officer (CPO) had seen an ad for a new AI-powered (allegedly) tool. The promise was to automate all the things that humans hate doing and provide a conversational mechanism for newbies to get answers through a ChatGPT-like interface.

They didn’t want to buy it, just create their own in-house.

This is where I came into the picture. The ask was to build this product alongside them. However, they had made the most fatal of mistakes I cannot ignore.

They fell into the tool before problem trap.

No one could tell me what was actually wrong with today’s onboarding process, or if there even was anything wrong.

All they knew was the CPO had seen this AI tool and they needed to make it a reality.

Nothing new here, right?

It doesn’t work that way

With further conversation, I got a clear picture of the madness.

The CPO had convinced themselves they could use their AI-powered solution to fully automate the onboarding process and remove humans entirely.

Despite the fact this wasn’t even possible, my questioning came to “Why would you want to do that?”. I never really got an answer to this btw.

In the end the project fizzled out due to money and time.

So, we never got to unpack if it was wise to do this. My point here is we have an already foggy view of what these tools can actually do, and a knee-jerk reaction for them to automate rather than collaborate with us.

This is where it goes wrong for any tech-assisted solution.

Human + AI

It’s funny how quickly we forget what makes AI work.

HUMANS.

I’m baffled by the AI-first rubbish I see on social feeds (I’m doing my best to cut down on feeds of late, fyi). I’m fond of the human-powered, AI-assisted or possibly ‘enhanced’ narrative.

However you look at it, we would be wise to seek collaboration.

That’s what brings me to the advantage both you and I have - our humanity. It’s the unique attribute or skill that enables you to leverage AI intelligently.

The human in the loop

If this was one of those Marvel films, this would be the time when the superior spandex laden superhero appears to save the day.

You might have heard of the concept ‘human in the loop’.

It’s commonly used to describe the essential human involvement required with any technology. Did you think all of those cool tools worked on their own?

If you haven’t, the term refers to human input into the development, training, and operation of AI systems. It’s about collaboration between man and machine, not one or the other. I believe this is the best way to work with these tools.

That’s why when I’m asked “Will x take my job?”, I reply “It depends”.

It depends if you’re building a human in the loop (HITL) with AI assisted tasks, and the answer is – you should!

The HITL approach leverages that collaborative approach I mentioned to improve accuracy, reliability, and adaptability of tech tools. You (the human) are the key ingredient in working with any technology. If you’re human skills suck, AI and other tools won’t help you much.

As humans, we provide key context.

Tools like Generative AI can do many wonderful things but it can’t apply those contextually.

Not right now, anyway.

So, if you’re sitting their worried about AI taking your job – Don’t.

Until SkyNet rises and starts building Terminators, you have a clear place in the flow of work.

But ‘x’ tool said it can do blah blah

Maybe you’re not quite sold on this concept.

Here’s where humans enhance the tech partnership:

1. Accuracy and reliability

2. Context and understanding

3. Ethics and accountability

4. Continuous improvement

5. Trust and adoption

Without you, technology can’t benefit from any of this.

That means it’s not much use in the long-term.

How to use your human skills to amplify work with AI

I believe we each need to deploy two unique human skills when working with AI.

• Critical Thinking

• Analytical Judgement

These both happen to be two of the 5 skills identified in my skills series for the Future of Work.

Too many of us look at AI tools and think prompting. Before you even tackle this I advise you to craft an ‘Builder’s mindset’.

I think this is a cheat code for life.

That might be too much hype, but a lot of my personal learning wins and skill acquisition is down to this mindset.

Here’s how it works:

Before you begin any project, ask yourself…

1. Why am I building this?

2. What problem is is solving?

3. The so what test?

4. How will you build it?

Like a builder you have an end goal in mind. Reverse engineer this process.

📝 Final thoughts

As we each continue to establish best practices with Gen AI use for work.

Getting clear on the level of human skills required to make this effective in any business is essential. In fact, this image I shared on LinkedIn last week sums up the reality most of us face today.

Till next time, you stay classy learning friend!

PS… If you’re enjoying the newsletter, will you take 4 seconds to forward this edition to a friend? It goes a long way in helping me grow the newsletter (and cut through our industry BS with actionable insights).

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So please leave a comment with:

1. Ideas you’d like covered in future editions

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SMART THOUGHTS

🤔  Talking AI in leadership with the Oxford Group

Another week, another podcast.

I need to count at some point how many I’ve managed to fall into this year! Always a privilege to be asked to talk with fellow pros about tech and learning.

This one offers a more unique conversation on the effects of AI tools for modern leadership.

I’ve had the privilege of working with the Oxford Group this year on Gen AI upskilling. Here I talk with the group’s Director on how AI is impacting what we look at in traditional human leadership.

💡 A Harvard psychiatrist explains how to improve your relationship with feedback

Feedback is a fickle thing, imo.

Everyone wants to give it, people says it’s a gift (I don’t agree) and often we can let it define us. The reality is you shouldn’t listen to all feedback, and all feedback is not created equal.

There’s no greater example of this than social media.

Everyone wants to give you an opinion or feedback. You need to be smart in what you allow in. This interview helped me a lot, perhaps it will help you too.

🔥  How I’m using Google’s little-known note taking and research tool to improve my critical thinking

I think the title says it all really.

I’m finding an incredible amount of value from this tool in my work. After 6 months of testing, I feel confident in recommending it to you. Here’s a 10 minute step by step tutorial to get the most value from it.

[P.S. Subscribe to my YouTube channel as I’ve got more killer tutorials for you]

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