Oh f*ck, not another AI article. Yeah, I’m afraid it is, I’m not sharing tips or apps here though, I’m sharing what I hope will be a well-needed perspective shift. I think people are making two mistakes when it comes to AI.

The first is the dated idea of what the “A” stands for. We have been taught that AI is an artificial intelligence – I think that’s the wrong way of thinking about it. It’s not artificial – it’s real intelligence – a more accurate way of looking at it is as Machine Intelligence (as opposed to our Organic Intelligence). 

I spoke about this in 2017, you can (should) watch it here:

A better way to think of it is as Augmented Intelligence as in it augments YOUR intelligence. And make no mistake, if you want to remain relevant today, you need to augment your intelligence. If you don’t you’re like an athlete playing in a sport in which steroids are allowed, and you’re deciding to go “natural”. You can – but you’ll lose. 

You Will Lose gif

By thinking of AI as augmented intelligence, we can appreciate its potential to not only simulate human thinking but also enhance it. This shift in perspective enables us to see AI not as an adversary, but as a kick-ass sidekick in our quest for knowledge and problem-solving. 

The second mistake is in how much we trust this augmentation. It’s important that we understand that this is like having a very-fast-but-still-young-and-fallible research assistant. It’s still more talented-intern than proffessor. When you set your expectations correctly it will change how you use the tool.

I know everyone is petrified of what this may or may not mean in the future, but every bit of energy you waste worrying about that today is energy that would be better spent using it.

You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.

This is another of those opportunities that you wish that you were on the right side of. Look, we have no idea how this will play out, but what we do know is that the acceleration has just increased, the changes are even faster than before, and job #1 for all of us right now is to keep up…!

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