You to the power of AI

The rise of artificial intelligence in the workplace is widely framed in dichotomous terms:

Human or Robot

According to this perspective, if our jobs can be done by robots, they will be. So we need to leverage our uniquely human talents to prevail.

Frankly, both assertions are true, at least to some degree. However I prefer an alternative framing that’s more helpful, at least in the corporate sector:

Human + Robot

According to this perspective, a human working with a robot will outperform a human or a robot working alone.

This is most obvious when we consider the robot assisting the human. For example, it might summarise a large document for us in seconds, generate a perfect image on demand, or check our content complies with extensive criteria. Without the robot, the human is less efficient, less productive, and risks poorer quality outcomes.

Less obviously, however, the human assists the robot too. While we might leverage its superior capability to automate a process, analyse a big dataset, or continuously update a dashboard, our role remains necessary to ensure it’s assigned to a real need, audit its accuracy, and… do everything else. Without the human, the robot might waste money, industrialise errors, perpetuate misinformation, and remain limited in scope.

So the way to break the dichotomy is by forming a symbiotic relationship whereby the robot does what it’s good at, and the human does what we’re good at. The former is computation, not thinking, so don’t succumb to the temptation of letting the robot do the thinking for you. Instead, get it to do the grunt work.

For example, if you use it to summarise a document, consider it presenting the key points to you; you’re the one who synthesises them to make meaning. If you use it to analyse data, consider it conducting the calculations; you’re the one who uses insight to inform your next best action. And if you use it to automate a process, consider it pushing cases from A to B; you’re the one who manages and maintains the process, and redeploys capacity to the complex cases that don’t fit the mold.

Even when you ask the robot to do a “thinking” task such as brainstorming, writing, or providing strategic advice, consider it serving you ideas, drafts and options for your evaluation. Moreover, position the robot as the meat in an AI sandwich so that at most, it does the thinking with you, not for you.

Because if all you’re doing is prompting a chatbot and copying & pasting its responses, guess what: your boss can do that. Which means you’re a cost.

But if you engineer your relationship with the robot to be mutually beneficial, it becomes AI to the power of you, and you become you to the power of AI. Which means you’re adding value.