Three keys, a quote and an invitation
One
Artificial intelligence (AI) is often misunderstood, overhyped, underestimated or overestimated and there‘s no wonder because things are moving pretty fast. While AI could lead to our greatest future achievements, it could also reshape societies in ways that causes suffering and undermines human agency. If AI is not properly regulated, AI could lead to a dystopian future where humans lose control over their own decisions and, ultimately, their destiny, as historian Yuval Noah Harari has argued.
In Atlas of AI (2021), Kate Crawford reminds us that AI, like any other technology, is a means to an end, not an end in itself, and it matters for people and the planet that we‘re mindful of what it‘s for. She warns that while AI is often seen as neutral or objective, it reflects the values, flaws and biases of those who create it.
Two
In What Every CEO Should Know About AI (2022), Dr. Viktor Dörfler argues that AI should be used as a partner, not a replacement and this requires understanding AI‘s true capabilities and limits: „The greatest achievements in the future will come from smart people using smart technology,“ writes Dörfler. But „we should not think of AI as making us smarter. AI amplifies what we’ve got, so if we happen to be stupid, it will amplify that too.“
AI’s main capabilities include the ability to process complex data super-fast. It identifies patterns and trends in large datasets, automates routine and predictive tasks, and provides quantitative insights for decision-making.
Facing identical AI inputs, individuals make entirely different choices based on their own decision-making styles, write Philip Meissner and Christoph Keding in MIT Sloan Management Review. Furthermore, Salesforce uses its own AI program called Einstein and its guidance has helped to “significantly reduce bias in meetings and decrease discussions driven by politics or personal agendas among members of the top management team.”
Three
What AI does not have, and is unlikely to replace, is human intuition. Unlike humans, AI relies on data-driven patterns rather than subconscious, experience-based insights.
Intuition remains critical for things like original strategic insight, innovation, flow state, happiness, moral and ethical leadership, for navigating uncertainty, giving birth to ideas and insights, understand emotions, deeply relate, create, be in awe, love, thrive, interpret complex situations, anticipate trends, navigate uncertainty, ambiguous situations, unstructured data and adapt to change.
A quote
“Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.”
“In a world deluged by irrelevant information, clarity is power.”
– Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
An invitation
Wisdom is asking the right questions. Clarity comes with presence and heightened awareness about how and to what we pay attention.
Next time you use AI, try this:
- Use intuition to frame a problem or decision.
- Use AI to analyse relevant data and see if it aligns with or contradicts intuition.
- Ask: Does this feel right? What’s missing? Engage your team and stakeholders.
- Test different “what-if” models to compare AI-driven insights with human intuition.
- Ask: What assumptions does this AI model rely on?
- Ask: What are the biases in this dataset?
- Ask: Does this align with real-world experiences and my experience?
I recently heard someone say AI makes them ‘excited about being more human.‘
What would the invitation to ‘be more human’ translate into in your life, today?
Thank you for reading, as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions. If you are enjoying reading this, are curious to find out more and think others might
be, please do share!
With love & respect,
