I’ve been having a lot of conversations around Artificial Intelligence and the intersection of human elements with AI implementations.
I use AI nearly every day, both personally and professionally. I’ve been using it for a while, and really ramped up my usage last spring after I presented on the topic in Vegas. I find myself both excited and concerned about the potential next steps we all take in the AI space.
As leaders, we are at a stage where we really need to get clear on HOW we are going to use and implement this tool. Are we going to use it to speed ourselves up? To what end? Are we going to choose to be intentional with it, slow ourselves down first to be more strategic with it? Remember: speed without direction – is just that. Speed.
Let’s consider this in light of a personal story, one that involves my daughter. When she was two, we gave her one of those balance bikes, so she could bypass the difficult stage of training wheels. That was great, until it wasn’t.
Around age 4, she and her dad were racing – and I panicked and started yelling to get them both to slow down – why? Because I was witnessing tiny legs that couldn’t keep up and a determined mind of an active child. I then watched my daughter (who couldn’t understand the potential impact of that speed on her body), flip over her handlebars and plant headfirst onto the pavement. It was a nasty fall – one of those that a parent really shouldn’t witness. Her helmet had a massive scratch and was dented in by a quarter inch – but thank goodness, she was fine. I’ll be forever grateful that just before that ride, Dad double checked and tightened that helmet.
AI is that bike. We are the toddlers.
Without care, attention, and intentional guardrails – I see all sorts of things that can go wrong. And yet, we also have this amazing opportunity to skip the training wheel stage and get some serious work done – saving time, reducing effort, and lightening those relentless workloads…
Just make sure you double check that helmet.
If you aren’t already using AI, I invite you to start. And if you are, consider how you are checking and reinforcing those guardrails. How are you slowing teams down to think strategically and improve their focus – before they implement these tools? How are you integrating important conversations around priorities, expectations and communication goals in relation to AI use?
Here’s some tools and articles we hope you find supportive in this space.
Articles & The Human Aspect Of AI:
- https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/education/2024/10/28/false-citations-show-alaska-education-official-relied-on-generative-ai-raising-broader-questions/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/health/chatgpt-ai-doctors-diagnosis.html
Notice the human aspect in both these articles. In the case of the Anchorage School District, the tool wasn’t misused as much as it amplified a simple human error. This example reflects time management issues and double checking one’s work – simple, human and non-technical use errors. While yes, it could have been shored up with some understanding about AI’s current limitations – this really reflects lack of time/rushed deliverables as key issues in AI implementations. In contrast, the article about healthcare points to the human aspect in relation to judgments and decisions based on strongly held beliefs and our ability (or inability) to challenge those beliefs. It begs the question: how are we supporting our teams with the human aspects of AI implementations? How are we actively questioning and challenging our teams strongly held beliefs – and what happens when we don’t?
Other Resources:
A Favorite Read: The Alignment Problem
A Favorite Newsletter: The Neuron
Thanks for reading! Fun news on our end: we are running new workshops and team coaching initiatives geared towards Improving Team Focus in the Age of AI. Reach out if you’d like to learn more. Also, we were quoted again in Forbes this past month and have a recent Alaska Business article in November. We hope you enjoy!
Finally, holiday cards are coming with our new stickers (which we know you love!). If you aren’t already on our mailing list ~ email us your address and we’ll ensure you and your team get some.
All the best,
Woodrie & The Team
