Becoming Unstoppable
AI is here to stay
Today we have a guest post from
, a data scientist and entrepreneur based in Philadelphia, PA. Brad is a dear friend and the author of AI Harmony, out now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. AI is here to stay. Ignore it at your own peril.— Daniel
AI is here, but most people have been talking about it and not experimenting with it enough. I'll deploy my favorite quote: "Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but don't nobody want to lift no heavy ass weights".
These tools are amazing and worth talking about, but you won't be able to understand what they mean for your business, your productivity, and the productivity of your employees until you start doing some heavy lifting yourself.
First, relax. AI is Not Inherently Evil or Dangerous
Drawing parallels to Sci-Fi renditions is tempting but largely inaccurate. A machine doesn't have motivations, desires, or intent; it reflects what we teach it. AI is a tool—like a hammer or a pencil—and its function depends on its user.
For a more detailed analysis, consider delving into Turing Award Winner Yann LeCun's perspective if you need to hear more on this.
What Mamma Don't Know Don't Hurt Her.
Reliably Detecting AI is Currently Impossible, And Likely to Stay That Way
There is no reliable AI detector, and there probably will never be one.
Read more:
Blanket AI Bans are Impractical and Stifle Innovation
If there is no reliable AI detector, any attempt at regulating or banning it is futile.
AI has a myriad of benevolent applications.
Your competitors might harness its power—officially or not.
The same goes for your customers and employees. Banning a tool doesn't negate its existence or potential usage outside your purview.
Focus on Your Core Competencies, Not Just Tools
Consider LegalZoom. At a glance, they seem centered on contract templates. But AI, given its prowess, can efficiently draft contracts.
For LegalZoom to remain relevant, they must pivot.
Thus, they're evolving into an attorney referral platform—akin to an Upwork for legal professionals. This seems to be exactly what they are doing.
Run Experiments to Find AI's Best Applications
Your life and business are probably not impacted as straightforwardly by AI as LegalZoom's. You need to experiment and approach AI adoption methodically and incrementally to find out where you are impacted most:
Scrutinize tasks: Which of them can AI do more efficiently?
Turn the lens inward: What's on your desk that AI could handle better?
Foster a culture of innovation. Incentivize employees and friends to explore and experiment.
Everyone can do R&D
Reflect for a moment on some sage advice from my Wharton professor:
People keep asking me which companies they should emulate in adopting LLMs. No large organization has figured this out - ChatGPT is less than a year old!
I believe that the best approach is to make as much of your company a R&D lab as possible. Use will be discovered through use.
That means HR now does R&D. Learning and development does R&D.
Sales and marketing does R&D.
Don’t leave this to traditional research groups or IT departments alone.
—
Fin
If AI can be a tool for good, if it cannot be detected and therefore regulated, you have to be using it. It's like using contacts to improve your vision, no one will notice, and you are only hurting yourself by not putting them in.
Many people I talk to seem to have moral hangups about using it, but they haven't even spent time with the tools to better understand them. I beg of you to allow yourself, your employees, and your friends to become unstoppable yourself.
AI isn't magic but it feels like it when we use it well, just like any technology does. Embrace it and try and understand it. You'll be happy you did.
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 | A guest post by
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