The Good, the Bad and the AI

AI, and moreover ‘Generative AI’, has arrived on the scene and is growing exponentially. There is now almost nothing that can't be written using this technology. What does this really mean for us? Do we ever have to put any effort into writing a letter, an essay, an assignment, a song, a poem, a strategy, a business plan again? Do we let the technology take over and lose our sense of identity, our soul, our personality that comes through in how we write? Or do we embrace it, let it get on with it and go and do something more interesting instead? Will our children and grandchildren one day laugh at us for being so old fashioned in the same way we did when our parents and grandparents darned socks, sent telegrams, listened to the wireless and had never heard of a supermarket? 

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A fool with a tool is still a fool and for anyone who’s seen Spiderman knows with great power comes great responsibility. Such powerful technology in the hands of those who don't understand or pay attention to it could lead to solutions we didn't need or want and the rapid creation of problems that could be avoided. If we ask ChatGPT to write a strategy for an Acceptance Testing Project it will do a pretty good job, much in the same way a template would have done before. What it's done however is give you the framework to build on and add the real detail tailored to the specific client and it’s project.

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If we use AI, both traditional or generative, to help us in our roles we will become more productive and be able to focus our efforts on the things that technology can not yet help us with, such as building relationships, engaging with our fellow humans, kicking ideas around and making the world a better place. If we use it instead to replace our roles, such as getting it to do our homework or passing its output off as our own, who are we kidding and what and where does that lead to?

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The most important thing is to have a strategy and set governance around its use, the development of models, its monitoring and human involvement. It's all about the controls an organisation creates and administers, very much in the same way that ITIL governs how we run IT services, generative AI will need to follow suit. I remember when email became a thing and back then there were very few controls in place over its ‘acceptable’ use. The amount of downtime resulting from large, multiple copies or inappropriate attachments was staggering. If we can learn from our past mistakes we should be able to embrace this new technology and use it wisely. 

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Finally, if we ask ChatGPT what the benefit of generative AI is, it will, rather self importantly and with some degree of personality big itself up and give you this response:

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“Generative AI, with its remarkable capacity to create content autonomously, offers a multitude of benefits across various fields. One of its most significant advantages lies in its ability to streamline and accelerate content creation, whether it's generating text, images, or even music. This technology has the potential to boost productivity and creativity in industries like marketing, design, and entertainment by automating routine tasks and inspiring new ideas. Moreover, generative AI can assist in addressing complex problems, such as drug discovery or climate modelling, by generating valuable data and insights. Its adaptability and potential to continuously improve through learning make it a versatile tool for innovation, promising to reshape the way we approach creativity, research, and problem-solving in the future.’”

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If you would like to talk more about how this technology can be used successfully please get in touch, our Unicorn Advisory experts would love to chat with you.

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