The AI revolution is underway. Where do the humans fit in?

It’s reminding me of 2007, the early days of the iPhone and touch screens. Whether it’s a Zoom meeting, a conference room, or a dinner party, the big topic of discussion these days seems to be Artificial Intelligence!

From sharing the newest time-saver to conjectures about the future, we are exploring, learning, and—at times stumbling—as we let AI into our lives. The AI revolution is underway!

At our July CliffsNotes Book Club, Katy O’Neill presented on the book, The Threshold: Leading in the Age of AI by Nick Chatrath. (ICYMI, check out Katy’s notes on the portal.) The discussion was high-energy, to say the least. More than once, I heard, “I need to try that.” And also, “Yikes, that’s scary!”
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Since this emerging technology is so immediately relevant to both leaders and organizations, I wanted to share a few tidbits we discussed during our book club conversation that you might find helpful while tinkering with AI:

1. Adding Personality. People who use generative AI as a writing tool—and naturally strong writers—will tell you that asking AI to write something for you is a great way to get a “plain vanilla” statement, that is, something that lacks a point of view. I’m not sure if I totally agree. The way to get your personality to shine through is to generate a decent draft (that will naturally include your style) and then enter specific prompts that will help you with the flow and clarity while asking AI to keep your tone and personality intact. The trick is to be descriptive and clear in your prompts. Ask it to, "Match my style."
2. Mitigating Bias. We all acknowledge that AI is biased, and we cannot lose sight of this. The key is to anticipate that there will be bias in any AI-generated output, as there is with any human output! I have learned to ask AI questions such as, “What are the biases I should be thinking of?” or, “What bias may have influenced your summary or recommendation?” Another question is, “What is a counter-argument that would be just as valid?” The key is to not seek to bias-proof your AI interactions, but to use AI’s research abilities to help you see the data differently.
3. Critical Thinking. While most of us spend time thinking about creating the best prompts, it’s just as important, if not more, to spend time thinking about the output. AI is a tool to support us and streamline our work, but once we receive the output, we need to verify the information and ensure that it aligns to our purpose and objectives. That’s where humans—and leaders—will always be needed. Humans come up with a framework and evaluate the data against it. 

What have you learned in your interactions with gen AI?

What’s working for you?

​Let’s keep the conversation going!