Human Risk In The Age of AI

My favourite slide from yesterday's keynote — the topic was 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 — was this one.

Not just because I love the visual, but because I think it sums up something I'm hearing a lot from clients.

It's also something I'm acutely aware of in my own work.

In a world when AI provides fast answers, there's a real temptation to hand everything over to it. 

And that can make a lot of sense. I'm all for getting it to complete dull admin tasks and give me access to skills that are way beyond my own abilities.

But there are also downsides.

The more we offload, the less thinking we're doing. The more we get it to write for us, the less we're practising the art of writing. And, as a lot of the content on LinkedIn perfectly illustrates, a lot of humans are now proudly sharing utter slop.

Which poses a challenge for each of us and for organisations. A Luddite response to AI and either ignoring it or banning it, misses great opportunities for productivity gains. But equally just because it can do lots of things, doesn't mean we should use it.

Setting guardrails that preserve our ability to use it effectively, requires us to acknowledge the temptation it poses. The more pressure people are under, the greater the likelihood they'll look for an AI solution. And if you're hiring smart people — particularly if their job involves seeking out arbitrage opportunities — don't be surprised when they deploy some of that intelligence into finding creative ways to make their lives easier.

And if you're curious about what else I covered — FOBO, for example — get in touch.