The artificial intelligence survival guide for the brave
By: Eli Amdur
Vantage Point
USA Today Network
08/27/2023
..... Be far and away, the Number 1 concern about artificial intelligence is: Will it replace me? will it take my job? will it render me obsolete?
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The answer is blunt: only if you letit. No transformation in history has ever become as imminent as fast as AI - not the PC, not the Industrial Revolution, not television, not the Internet, not ... well, anything. No wonder it's so ominous.
..... AI has gotten off to a fast, wild-and-wooly start, and it hasn't givne more of us enough time to understand it, thereby causing what amounts to a global case of heartburn and insomnia. But it doens't have to. If we slow down a bit and start asking good questions, this whole thing will look different.
..... And for my money, the many questions we can ask boil down to two: (1) What, exactly, is AI? (2) do we let it become our master or our aide?
..... And then comes the mediate question of the hour: If AI will change the whole world and the life of every single person in it, what skills will we need to use AI effectively? Meaning creatively, productively, resourcefully and advantageously.
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Knowing that no one has all their answers, I gathered a few of my respected peers and we tossed it around, knowing that we each probably had a few ideas, but only as a whole, did we have, for the time being, "our" answer. (For the fun of ti, I also asked AI. Not surprisingly, AI agreed with us the most part, but missed a couple of slam-dunks. "We'll get to that later.)
..... Of note, we're concerned here with the skills that AI users will need, not those that AI builders (techies) will need. That's another kettle of fish altogether.
1. Digital Literacy. This is foundational: basic computer skills, navigating the Internet, comfort using new software for AI as it develops.
2. Data literacy. Understanding how data is used by AI systems and how we use (and misuse) data. This includes data collection techniques, data privacy and the potential for data bias.
3. Linguistic literacy. Talk about foundational! This means how language works and hot wits components - vocabulary, grammes, sytax, semantics and phonetics - work together. The better yo are at this, the better AI will be.
4. Critical thinking. The ability to asses the information and knowledge presented by AI. Remember, IA's outputs are based on patterns of data, and how that data is gathered by and presented to you can vary wildly. which brings up.
5. Common sense. While you're being awed by how much data AI can get its hands on in a nanosecond and present to you the way you want it, keep in mind that - as much a s70% of its output could be wrong, suspicious or irrelevant.
6. Voice-text interaction. Effective use of voice assistants was science fiction 50 years ago. Today? Ask Alexa how important it is.
7. Personalization. AI doesn't have to be an off-the-rack suit; it can be a custom-made garment. Learn the settings.
8 AI-enhanced creativity. Creativity and its offspring, innovation, are the result of a simulation of creative dissatisfactions with the status quo. We are all born with a sense of creativeness - that's how babies explore their new world - but we lose it over time by seeking comfort in the status quo. Be in touch with your creativeness and ask AI for help.
9. Ethics. AI has the capacity to do more good or more harm than any other invention in history. Go back and take that ethics course you should have taking in school.
10. Collaboration. Like most other endeavors, teams go further than individuals. sharpen your team-building skills.
11. The AI here-now. Stay up to date on AI's comings and goings. The nature, pace and scope of change in AI will certainly make our heads spin, but we have no choice. AI is rapidly transforming form a strategic advantage to an operational advantage.
..... This list will surely change in both detail and scope. In fact, it probably has changed during the time you took to read this column.
..... Now, as fro the two that AI didn't get, let's play around. Email me with your guesses and I'll let you know. eli.amdur@amdurcoaching.com.