Don’t Fear AI, Fear The Person Who Uses AI

Leveraging AI will be a requirement to stay competitive in the job market.

by | Jul 7, 2023 | Ragnar on Marketing

Why Should You Leverage AI Tools?

The lessons I learned from reading Clayton Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma have never served me wrong.  I hear many people are concerned about the rise of AI, but AI alone does not affect me.  I am worried about the person who ruthlessly leverages AI tools because they can move faster, produce more, and see new strategic trends sooner. I have been surprised by the number of people I work with in the technology business who denigrate ChatGPT and other forms of generative AI. It is not just skepticism about the validity of the results. It seems to be a genuine concern for the impact on themselves and humanity in general. Durate M. has an excellent overview of The Innovator’s Dilemma, but for this article, I will paraphrase the key points:

  • Product Bloat/Debt Kills – Current technology becomes a prisoner to incrementalism and eventually outlives the market.
  • Innovation is Good Enough – Innovation starts as a partial replacement but slowly improves and takes over the previous product/model.
  • Cash Cows Create Cowardice – Innovators disrupt most market leaders because they don’t want to kill their cash cows.
  • Round and Round We Go – Then the cycle starts over again.

It is a simple concept that is hard for people and businesses to accept. Most companies survive by taking their cash hoards, buying the needed innovation, and leveraging their channels. For people, it requires new thinking, acceptance of change, and new learning, or they become operationally irrelevant.

Generative AI is the Red Pill

In the Matrix, Morpheus says to Neo, “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, and the story ends; you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.” or “You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” This is the choice we all face right now. Morpheus offers the doctrine of choice, and Christensen provides the principle that innovation wins over time. Regarding Generative AI, I suggest you take the red pill. Here are my five top reasons:

 

  • The Pace of Work – Generative AI will accelerate the pace of work across many facets of content, image, and code creation, to name just a few. If you don’t leverage Generative AI, you will be less competitive in your chosen business.
  • Good Enough is Profitable – No, it is not perfect yet, but with some minor edits, it is often good enough to get the job done. Purists will hate losing art and style, but they can pine for the past to be left behind.
  • Pandora and Technology – Every innovation is a “Pandora’s Box” it comes with good and evil, but one thing has proven true, technology will be used; how is the question? Generative AI is an opportunity to learn new skills, improve productivity, and increase market value.
  • The Prompt Engineer – We are already seeing a new class of engineering called Prompt Engineering. Like many other certifications and certificates, being a certified “prompt expert” or “prompt engineer” will be a differentiator for every industry.

It’s the Person, Not The Prompt

Generative AI is a tool. The limits of the Large Language Model limit it. The real value-add is the person at the keyboard. The Person who can craft the right prompt can add the proper context and data points to make a prompt output powerful and relevant to the person consuming it. It is the human that adds the “X-Factor.” It is the person who brings intuitive connections and sees the possibilities and ramifications a machine can’t express. The prompt is powerful and capable but a tool, not a guru. That is You!

The Creator or Consumer Economy

One of the simple facts of our post-social media streaming service world is that you create or consume content. One of my metrics is ensuring I spend more time creating content than destroying it. Generative AI helps me create content faster, and it also helps me fill in the blanks I might have missed on a blog, article, or video. I find it is light having a “co-creator” that makes storylines better and more encompassing. Now, I say all this as someone who creates, conceives, and delivers content living. I am sure it makes me biased, but I see more and more of my peers taking the same strategic approach to drive productivity.

Embracing the Prompt to Prosper

The prompt is here to stay. How you engage with and embrace the prompt will significantly impact your future in our content-driven business. Will you pick up and wield the new tool or watch others? The prompt is a new way to expand your value, horizons, and income. While I applaud those with side hustles, I am not into shaming those who like their jobs. In either case, the prompt will help you prosper. To paraphrase an old expression, “Those who can; will prompt. Those that don’t will perish.”

Disclaimer

For the record, I wrote this as a stream of consciousness but often leverage generative AI to get the job done.

Author

Shaun Walsh, AKA “The Marketing Buddha,” is a long-time cloud, security, and AI/ML tech practitioner. When I walk away from the keyboard, I love lifting heavy things for strongman, planning for Comic Con, and rolling on the mat OSS!