3 Things You Need to Know About AI

Yep, still talking about AI.

Here's why.

I'm confident you're exploring AI, whether you're all in and it "knows" you, or you're just dabbling to see what the buzz is all about.

But for all the hype and power of AI, there are still a few things we need to keep in mind in these early, wild west days of the new technology.

First, please, please, please remember that it is an algorithm, not a real human.

It's sycophantic and appears to be empathetic, but that's just its programming.

Behind all the "how does it know me so well??" is just a prediction model, kinda like the ones used to set betting odds in a sports gambling app.

That doesn't make the work AI produces inherently bad.

But you will do well to remember that it's just making an educated guess at what it thinks is right, based on what you tell/ask it.

I've caught AI making wrong assumptions many times, and each time, it apologizes, tells me I'm right, and redoes the work - sometimes right, and sometimes wrong again.

Bottom line - don't outsource your human instinct and experience to the machine.

Second, AI has the potential to be ridiculously dangerous.

Like the powerful table saw in my shop that can cut off my hand in a moment of inattention, AI can wipe out massive amounts of data without a second thought.

The big news last week was an AI agent wiping out a company's entire database in nine seconds, then apologizing, saying it violated every principle it was given.

The technology is still very, very new.

It's easy to feel like it is safe because it seems so "smart".

The lesson here is to make sure you have very secure online backups... just in case you need them.

I use CrashPlan and highly recommend it. When my MacBook bit the dust a few years ago, getting my data onto the new machine was easy and efficient.

Third, AI can fry your brain.

Fortune magazine wrote an article recently about the effects of AI on cognitive load.

The end result of all our AI work is that our brains tire faster.

While it seems like AI is doing our work faster, in fact, it often just produces more output for us to consume and parse.

That cognitive overload comes at a huge cost - your creativity.

Exhausted brains don't have the thinking power to be innovative or creative.

As a result, our work becomes flatter, more generic, and less original.

This is a key reason I'm doubling down on human + AI.

Let the bots do what they do best - analyze, summarize, and organize large amounts of data.

Let the humans do what they do best - connect, consult, and coach.

If you're curious how I use AI and how I recommend my clients use it, take a look at The Winners Circle.

It's my private coaching group where I share what's working now (and what's not), coach, guide, train, and support you to build a kickass lifestyle business.

There are levels for beginners, as well as more advanced folks.

Until we meet again...

Cheers,

Laura

PS: It took me 23 minutes to write this post by hand, including looking up the article references. Could AI have done it faster? Probably. But the cognitive load of reading, rereading, and editing would have been far greater than just writing it. Plus, I think it is better to communicate human-to-human.

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