”…as old professions became obsolete, new professions evolved, and there was always something humans could do better than machines. Yet this is not a law of nature, and nothing guarantees it will continue to be like that in the future.” Yuval Noah Harari
I joined WPNC to manage their digital division in November 2022. A couple of days later, OpenAI revealed ChatGPT to the world. Before it had really started, my job changed. Yours did too, although you might not have realised it yet.
Hype Cycles
Sure, generative AI is getting an absurd amount of hype at the moment. It has many flaws and there are legitimate concerns being voiced. But this is a technological inflection point, much like the early days of the web. Technological inflection points tend to have an impact on the socio-economic environment. Let’s be frank: there will be winners and losers.
Generative AI is like fire to early mankind. It’s literally awesome. It will eventually help us do remarkable things that were simply impossible before. But, like fire, it can be destructive if left to run wild.
The models we have today, while incredible technological achievements, are the worst we’ll use. Even though we’re probably approaching Gartner’s “trough of disillusionment”, the hype is justified.
Even though AI has made me obsolete, I believe in a pragmatic approach. Like in the days of the early web, or when smartphones were invented, I’m cautiously optimistic, and I’m approaching the next phase with enlightened curiosity.
Becoming Obsolete
Over the last 18 months I’ve given countless talks about genAI and have incorporated it into my daily work. Regardless of their “AI maturity”, the questions I’ve been getting from organisations are remarkably similar to those asked when the web was created.
- What does this mean for us?
- What could we do?
- What should we do?
- How do we do it?”
When it comes to emerging technologies, I’ve been helping organisations with those questions for my entire career. That’s why I’m excited to be joining Obsolete as Chief Strategy Officer. As part of the extraordinary team, I’ll be providing pragmatic advice and helping organisations apply AI.
If you’re following AI developments and are interested in practical applications for your org, you might want to start with the Obsolete newsletter.
Or we could have a chat about working together, partnerships, or whatever takes your fancy (within reason).
