Hello Reader,
Thank you to those who dropped me an email in response to my commentary last week. I am always encouraged when you take the effort to write - for the simple fact that you don't have to.
Last week, I talked about how AI euphoria has taken over the data centre industry. For this week, let's talk about generative AI and its impact on the future of work.
The blind men and AI
In the classic blind men and the elephant parable, each person touches a different part of the animal and draws wildly different conclusions. None of them are wrong, yet they all completely miss the bigger picture.
Each time I write about the use of generative AI in writing, I've received wildly different responses. There are some who condemn its use with gusto, while others assert that good AI outcomes lie with the thought process or the presence of original ideas.
Yet another group would challenge me on what they perceive as a personal attack on how they use AI. What does it matter, they ask, as long as they take ownership of the final output? I shall note that these respondents are seasoned professionals, some of whom are successful business leaders with regional or country-level remits.
I'll be honest. It took me a long time to figure this out. Now I will say: none of them are wrong. But everyone is also missing the bigger picture. And it's not even our fault. After all, AI is so inherently groundbreaking, so radically different, and continually improving - that we really have no frame of reference and are all still trying to make sense of it.
The AI ceiling
Before I go on, I want to say that I believe generative AI will change the world as we know it. However, if you read my posts regularly, you would surely have known about my frustration with AI-generated content on social media. My beef isn't with the large language model (LLM) itself. It is with the use of AI to effectively beautify poor or mediocre writing, making it appear insightful until you actually read it."
But do a careful read and the cracks show up quickly. What's worse is how AI excels at synthetic coherence that works even for erroneous arguments. I do loathe wasting precious time on a piece of content, only to discover upon finishing it that it's nothing more than AI slop.
This is the antithesis of why I write, which is to craft compelling, easy-to-understand stories that offer genuine insights. Is it possible to generate exceptional content using AI? I don't doubt it. But it'll take significant skills and effort, from my personal experience.
This is because today's AI has a tendency to skew towards the most common patterns, making everything sound the same. A strong writer can make it work with enough effort, though at some point one wonders if they'd be better off just writing it by hand. It is for this reason that I think the best content will continue to be human written for a long time yet.
The real AI story
When we look beyond the grandiose and frankly unrealistic claims being made about AI, I do feel that the technology will genuinely help improve work.
Here are some examples of how AI has helped me.
- Earlier this week, I was invited to a briefing for the media at Cloudflare's office. With the transcript from a recording and AI, I was able to quickly locate relevant pointers for my post. This cut the usual writing time by a third - allowing me to post it in time to attend a second event that afternoon.
- I have relied on various leading AI models to critique some of my long-form content that I write online or for clients. I don't accept every recommendation, but I dare say it's allowed me to produce significantly better outputs without the benefit of a human copyeditor.
- AI has also proved invaluable in copywriting. When crafting a messaging framework, for instance, getting key descriptions and headers right are absolutely vital. This is where AI has helped me save a tremendous amount of time as I craft and fine-tune them.
These are just a small handful of ways I've used AI over the last 24 months.
Which leads me to my point for today's commentary. I reckon that there is a segment of people who are quietly dabbling with AI to improve and enhance their work. They are not looking for prompt packs or quick-to-obsolete techniques but are actively leveraging AI to amplify the quality and volume of their output.
Is that you?
How are you leveraging AI today? Hit "reply" to this email and tell me. I would love to hear from you.
Regards,
Paul Mah
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