The question of AI replacing humans in multiple ways is one that many people are discussing at the moment. In an earlier article, I explored whether AI could replace your personal trainer, and now, the question of where – or indeed IF – humans will sit in the future of work is up for debate. Take market research, for example. Run a search through ChatGPT and you will uncover reams of secondary data, related to emerging trends, market sizes, segmentation and more. With this level of analysis, entire teams could eventually be replaced as AI grows more powerful by the day. Will humans even feature in the technical world of work in the future? I firmly believe so.
Firstly, the nature of AI is that it will continue to replicate an error if it is not corrected in the first place. One output that is developed further will compound the error and result in a set of meaningless data. The well-known phrase “garbage in, garbage out” applies to all technology, not just AI, and we all know that the internet contains just as much rubbish as cold, hard facts and peer-reviewed science. If this universe of data has as many black holes as it has stars, it is no wonder that there will be a considerable amount of garbage and hallucinations sifted through to deliver the results. To faithfully trust the output of AI is to sign your own P45. The ability to think critically, test results against different outputs, and verify the “facts” you are staking your budget on is essential. Only a skilled, experienced human mind can achieve this; the value of an education passed down from generation to generation, tested over time, vastly outweighs that of the shiny new labour-saving devices of the twenty-first century.
Secondly, it is becoming easier to spot copy that is taken directly from ChatGPT. That indicative dash “ – “ but longer, is a classic example of a cut and paste from the canvas. Many people I have spoken to are becoming irritated by that dash and the carbon copy structure of an AI post. Creativity and originality are priceless, but we are getting sloppy in our rush to post consistently, grow our audience, and run out of topics to write about. Scrub together a concept, whack it in ChatGPT and bingo, you have your post for the day. Authenticity is becoming highly prized after the influx of effortless, polished posts we are seeing day after day in our feeds. Who is actually writing their own posts, and who is relying on AI? I predict a backlash of opinion against AI posting. We are creative beings; we need the joy and delight of making things, but our own innate productivity is being called into question by the existence of AI-generated art and literature. My guess is that a shift towards losing credibility for relying on AI for blogs and posts, and genuine, heartfelt human output, will be restored.
Imagine you have a dataset where all numbers have been checked for accuracy, making it a perfect set of numbers. This indicates that your valuable resources are being deployed in the right place, and all is going well with your project. Yet there is dissent in your team. There are absences, frequent sick days, poor performance and low morale. No dataset in the world is going to replace the soft skills of the manager who is responsible for clearing up the mess in this team, the human ability to listen, reason, encourage and support the people who are responsible for maintaining the progress of this project. Without the people, the numbers become meaningless – the ability to relate to others in the workplace is far more important than the software that delivers the insights and the trend forecasts. Consider it your emotional intelligence balance sheet – if you are a liability, your business will fail. Assets such as inspiration and empathy will improve performance, enhance cohesion and result in your team embodying the spirit of the project and therefore vastly improve the quality of the output at the end of the road – a task impossible for AI.
AI is one tool in a vast toolbox created by humanity, for humanity. Don’t hand over the keys to your brain – retain the ability to think critically and exercise sound judgment, to preserve the integrity of data that future generations will rely on.
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