AI Far More Than Just a New Tool...

You can't turn on the news without seeing an article about AI.

As a coach and consultant, I think about AI a lot.

Part of my job is to curate the information around AI to help my client understand what is happening and how they might look at AI in their business.

Something I have been thinking about is that AI goes beyond being a new tool; it's also like a whole new material.

That means it isn't just doing an old job better, but it is transforming behavior

To illustrate what I mean, think about the invention of plastic.

Not only did it replace glass and other materials for containers, but it also changed the way we interact with items.

Take the squeeze bottle, for example.

You couldn't squeeze glass. Plastic didn't just make the ketchup container cheaper and easier to transport; it changed how we engage with condiments.

The squeeze was a new behavior.

AI doesn't just answer questions faster or deeper than a search engine.

It lets you have a conversation, that is, interact with the information in a new and deeper way.

Perhaps the more interesting example is syringes.

Before plastic, syringes were made of glass, and they were reusable. But they required complex protocols to keep them sterile.

Plastic made sterility cheap enough to mass-produce and make it easily accessible.

AI is doing the same thing to some areas of expertise. It's making complex thinking cheap enough to be accessible to many, not just reserved for people who can afford consultants.

If you're a coach or consultant, now is the time to assess how you can maintain your value in a world that is trying to replace you with ChatGPT.

For me, I'm going human + AI.

That means I'm using AI to get clients to 80% of the best possible answer, then adding the human review layer to add the nuance that AI doesn't yet have.

I'm also leveraging my 25 years of experience to separate what works in theory and what works in reality.

If you're curious about how I'm using human + AI to get better results, join the What's Working Now session I'm hosting on June 17th.

PS: the environmental impact of plastic and AI is not lost on me. I'm hopeful we will find a way to make AI work with far less impact than it has now.