Universal Language, Obsolescence, Super Users

My Takeaways from TEDAI - Part 2

As I continue to dissect my notes from TEDAI, I keep going back to the pattern language I heard over two days.  The flood of information reconciled into several buckets that pertained to my current work with AI-based companies, as well as my journey with AI-infused projects. 

Welcome to part 2 of 3 of the Now New Next TEDAI series. This edition will focus on three storylines that caught my attention - Universal Language, Obsolescence, and Super Users.  I see each of these playing out over the next 12 - 18 months in a variety of ways. 

UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Jessica Coon, a Professor of Linguistics at McGill University and Canada Research Chair in Syntax and Indigenous Languages spoke to us about the implications of languages in the Generative AI era.  Jessica, who served as a linguistics advisor to the 2016 movie Arrival, told us there were more than 7,000 unique languages on planet Earth.  You can double that when you add in all of the dialects. 

The idea that GAI is based on Large Language Models (LLMs) and is building its knowledge base on a smaller subset of primary languages spoken versus the 7,000 possible is a potentially missed opportunity to understand all of humanity.  Jessica talked about how machines need rules and patterns to create their predictive outcomes for the next word to be generated. 

Human languages tend to have shared structures that rely on different orders of subject, verb, and object.  There are hierarchical structures that humans need to learn a language. 

Language shapes culture and translates into cultural values shared from generation to generation. Indigenous languages are something that we can not afford to lose. We risk the extinction of these unique cultures that could be lost forever.  What if AI could be used to identify and understand the uniqueness of each language so we could build a more collective view of all species on our planet?

To this end, one of my projects (I am a co-founder) is called Neuro Universal Language (NUL).  It is the brainchild of my former client, Mario Major, a 50-year-old man who is diagnosed with Asperger and ADHD. Mario also has a Mensa-level IQ that makes his divergent mind a superpower.  Fifteen to 20 percent of the world's population is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The majority of whom are not employed or underemployed at best. 

Our goal with NUL is to create a translation layer of language between the Neurodiverse person (Mario) and the Neurotypical person (me).  In the age of AI, that is now possible.  Our partnership with Brilliant Labs and Wellbeing.ai is leading to the initial proof of concept (POC) offering to be tested in Q1 2025.  We see a world where neurodivergent brilliance is integrated into society, not isolated by a headset. 

OBSOLESCENCE

Harvey Mason Jr., the serving CEO of the Recording Academy is a world-renowned music creator who has worked with iconic musicians and numerous entertainment organizations over the years.  He represents the pulse of an artist who is facing obsolescence by AI.  

Harvey told an amazing story about growing up in a musical household. Both parents were musicians. His dad was a famous jazz drummer in the heyday of jazz.  Always practicing tapping his rhythms at the dinner table or wherever he sat. 

One day, his dad came home sullen, like he had seen a death.  It was, in fact,  his death as a jazz drummer.  He had just witnessed the release of the Linn LM-1 Drum Computer that would render him obsolete.  It could do what he did and more.  

A week or so later, the Linn M1 showed up at the Mason household.  His dad had ordered one so he could understand what it could do.  He told his kids, “I feel obsolete, but I refuse to let technology destroy my career”.  He went on to create new sheet music, rhythms, and beats for the Linn M1 for other drummers to use and he went on to co-create with the machine to advance his career to new heights.  

A powerful lesson for a young Harvey Mason that served to shape his approach to facing advances of new technology. 

Harvey laid out four steps for dealing with the idea of obsolescence from new technology. I interrupted that into four steps for creating "self-obsolescence “ so you can advance yourself to the next level by harnessing the technology.  

1. Understand - seek to understand the new technology as much as possible. 

2. Adapt - learn how to adapt it to your craft and experiment religiously. 

3. Advocate - dig in, and talk to anyone and everyone about the impacts and opportunities that lie ahead. 

4. Compete - becoming obsolete is not an option, know how are you going to compete and innovate to win.  Dig deep and apply your know-how in new ways.
   
   

SUPER USERS

An afternoon panel session on AI and the Workforce hit home because of my work in the Future of Work world.  The panel was made up of Archana Rao, CIO, Unity; Kellie Romack, CIO, Service Now; Ethan Mollick, Co-Director, Generative AI Lab, Wharton; Julia Lamm, Principal, Workforce Transformation, PwC and moderated by Keith Ferrazzi, Founder of Ferrazzi Greenlight. 

There was a great discussion about putting AI in the hands of all employees, albeit with the overhang of “public failure” and dealing with risk mitigation of being a public company.  The discussion went on to talk about “reskilling and or upskilling” the entire workforce.  And, how do you do that with 75,000 employees, let alone 5,000 or 500?

The pressure to “push towards ROI” is real in large companies. The tendency for any corporation of size is to find low-hanging fruit.  Reduce costs.  Speed up productivity.  That only serves to perpetuate the fear of being replaced versus embracing the idea of creating net new outcomes.  

The tension of replacing the engines on the plane while flying at high altitudes took me back to my corporate days at AOL Time Warner.  The lessons from living through four mergers of new companies, new cultures, and old fiefdoms ultimately come down to behavior and incentives.  

In the case of AI, two nuggets popped out of the panel discussion.

1. What are we in service of?

2. Changing the way we work, not replicating what we already did. 

The panel spoke of dealing with Adaption, Adoption, and Experience.  In an ideal situation, you would encourage the C-Suite to (i) use it, (ii) align incentives to use it and (iii) create it for full use, not just IT-only gatekeepers.  

The acceleration of this boils down to identifying “super users” and empowering them to become the inner company evangelists.  They are the super spreaders and have the ear of their peers. The role of leadership is to remove the friction and to encourage adoption while supporting “failing in safe ways”.  Guardrails, not restrictions. 

The key is to create incentives that reward changing and improving how we work, not automating the way we already work.  Create new benchmarks as wins come forward. Set up divergent small teams in AI think sessions with the super users to rethink how AI can advance learning and shift the outcomes.  Shampoo, rinse, repeat. 

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NOW (How you are realizing this today)

1. Is your company language clear with using AI? 

2. Do you feel the fear of being obsolete?  How do you make that a superpower? 

3. Are you considered a super user in your company?      

NEW (How you will realize this tomorrow)

1. I will organize a small divergent team to take on how to rethink our work. 

2. I will seek to become a super user of AI in my company. 

3. I will share my fear of becoming obsolete with people who can help me see alternatives that I can’t see.  

NEXT (I see a world in which) 

I see a world in which we will use AI to imagine a new way to think and work versus automating what we already do.

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THE PAYOFF

“Artificial intelligence is not a substitute for human intelligence; it is a tool to amplify human creativity and ingenuity."   ~ Fe-Fe Li, Co-Director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and IT Professor at the Graduate School of Business

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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.