Humans in the Loop

My Takeaways from TEDAI - Part 1

My normal publishing time was set back a few days because I wanted to incorporate my observations and learnings from attending two days of TEDAI into this three part Now New Next series. 

If ever there was an appropriate metaphor of Now New Next, it was sitting through 16 hours of AI speeches and panels.  Our Now is certainly being impacted by the New of AI developments.  And, our Next is going to become the new frontier resulting from the impacts of AI on EVERYTHING. 

My mind was blown. I am still processing all of the inputs.  I came away with three key observations:  Acceleration.  Rapid Destruction.  Humans in the Loop. 

“Human + AI collaboration will be a spectrum.”   ~ Diyi Yang, Stanford Assistant Prof 

ACCELERATION

Working with Singularity University several years ago taught me about the concept of “exponential growth” versus “linear growth” - the kind my generation grew up with.  The history of our economics was based on linear growth curves and projections.  This is how we used to plan budgets and annual raises.  

The introduction of exponential growth pushed us to think in 10x magnitude.  Technology is designed to optimize our processes and our productivity.  Its intention is to squeeze more out of systems and dramatically increase our output.  Automate. Eliminate.  The curve was no longer linear, it became exponential.  Hence thinking, producing and executing continues to be pushed by a 10x mindset. 

The Magnificent Seven technology companies have driven that point home over the last few decades.  The power got rebalanced on the Fortune and Global 500 lists over the course of time. The impacts of change have created cracks in the ways of organizations and progress.  

Well, I am here to share with you, those table stakes just shifted again.  This time, we need to think in 100x magnitude.  Navin Chaddha, Managing Partner, Mayfield spoke about AI becoming a 100x force multiplier.  A mindset shift will need to happen and with a sense of urgency.  The shadow of the AI train speeding forward will just get smaller and smaller as AI will just become the way we now do things. 

RAPID DESTRUCTION

The moment that hit me hard, was when Noam Brown from OpenAI spoke about how when ChapGPT 4.0 came out in March, it was merely four months since ChatGPT 3.5 was released.  It wasn’t the leaps in improvement that everyone raved about, it was the notion that 3.5 only had a shelf-life of four months and it was no longer worth anything.

Unlike buying a new Apple iPhone or Android where they have models that still work years later and hold some level of value until you trade them in.  Which is typically about 2.5 years.  I realize that we have had over the air updates for years in Tesla’s - which by the way was a 100x impact to existing automakers at the time.

The notion of value is going to change.  

The coming structural shifts will remind us of the tectonic shifts that cause earthquakes.  Having lived through a 6.7 earthquake in Los Angeles in 1994, with twins on the way, you never see the world the same again. 

We will need to reconcile with the idea of going back to “beginner's mind” to unlearn what we think is possible and to be open to what is possible in AI terms.  The ability to connect dots into new concepts and solutions aren’t a ways off, they are at your fingertips now. 

Are they perfect? No. But, where this change becomes the new reality is that these ai inspired tools will come with reasoning and have the capacity to take action.  Not performing linear repetitive functions, but evolving and learning and improving and suggesting and...executing autonomously.  

Differentiation.  Business Models.  Go To Market.  Integrations.  Dependencies.  All become liquid.  All of the authors who are speaking about moving to a flux and or fluid way of thinking are spot on with their analogy of thinking like water or liquid. 

The speed of change will become fluid.

“Be like water, my friend. You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” ~ Bruce Lee

HUMANS IN THE LOOP

This term kept popping up. Over and over.  It was referred to in the context of augmenting AI, fact checking AI, becoming the expert complement, becoming the humanizing cohort to ensure the machine does not go astray.  

Dr. Ben Zhao, Professor of Computer Science,  University of Chicago told a story about how Generative AI is destroying the future of Human Art.  It was a tale that was not being told.  He told us about prominent art schools that were over 100 years old shutting down.  They collectively told him they have never seen admissions fall like this before.  It was so dramatic they had to shut their doors.

The same was happening for famous Art Galleries.  They were no longer able to support the artists who were being impacted from their art being learned and copied by GAI image training.  And now anybody can make art in a similar style.

He went on to say that we are killing the art pipeline as we know it. Future artists won’t have a place to go and learn and build their craft if schools disappear.  

He talked about how we will have to reimagine art, the definition of art going forward will stretch us in new ways.  He believed art is the purest form of expression.  And, that human imagination and ability to create stems from our emotions and how our brains make sense of the world. 

As I was sitting there, all I could think of was, “I don’t have to run as fast as the bear, only faster than you”.  We are about to encounter a freight train of technological impacts that will meld machines (who can now speak our language) and humans to create new ways to create that were inconceivable before now.  

This shift will not be distributed evenly. Yes, but, it gives us humans a chance to continue along this reset path we have been on since COVID.  As a species, we have always adapted to our new environments.  I believe we have a new one coming and we will need to keep the humans in the loop.

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NOW (How you are realizing this today)

1. Where are you on the AI curve today? 

2. Do you pay for any AI tools today? 

3. Do you use Google or Perplexity to do your search?     

NEW (How you will realize this tomorrow)

1. Run, don’t walk to get educated about AI by the end of the year.

2. Create your own GPT, because in short order you will be designing your personal ai agent. 

3. Are you on a team or in a group that is discovering, discussing and testing AI tools and sharing knowledge.  If not, find one or make one.   

NEXT (I see a world in which) 

I see a world in which we will all need to become comfortable with being liquid-like in our thinking, behavior and approach to life. 

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THE PAYOFF

“Some people call this artificial intelligence, but the reality is this technology will enhance us. So instead of artificial intelligence, I think we’ll augment our intelligence.  ~ Ginni Rometty, Former CEO of IBM

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If you are seeking a way to optimize where and how you are thinking about AI, book a free consultation with me, and let's consider the possibilities.  

My work has raised a collective $1B+ for the companies I have worked with over the last 10 years.  And, I have helped dozens of companies and executives to find their narrative voice.  More importantly, I help companies to listen to their own voice.