As I keep integrating AI tools into my business and personal life, one thing get clearer and clearer…
I need to separate what I’ll always be best at, from what AI can replace for me.
The best way to view AI is as a more efficient tool.
Like your can opener.
You could still brute-force that can open with a hammer, but it would be way less efficient.
And you can still research and analyze data or write first drafts, but when you try doing it with AI, you see how much more efficient it can be.
But the thing is, doing it well with AI requires learning.
And learning requires another critical meta-skill:
Intuition.
Developing your intuition in the age of AI will set you apart from the masses of complainers who moan about their jobs being taken over.
Developing your intuition is a bit like learning how to track your food.
At first you track and weigh every single thing you eat. This gives you a baseline understanding.
Then you start estimating your portion sizes and weighing them afterwards to confirm or disprove your estimations. This helps you develop your intuition.
It’s always a succession of following the rules, then breaking them.
Same with AI.
At first you have to understand how the machine works.
You learn that for example, ChatGPT requires you to train it and “seed” it with real world information.
Then you start breaking patterns, throwing stuff on the wall and seeing what sticks.
You begin refining your prompts, testing new ones, seeing which ones give you crappy results and adapt.
AI can’t do it for you.
Not yet at least.
The biggest problem?
I think it’s that AI tools still lack good affordances.
Affordances are design features that suggest how an object should be used. They are cues that help people understand how to interact with a product or system.
Most AI tools as of today are still for the nerds.
Reason why it’s even more important to be able to develop your intuition if you want to master them.
How can you start improving your intuition with AI tools?
Keep these in mind:
- Understand the limitations of AI: While AI language models can generate text and provide suggestions, they are still not capable of replicating human intuition, empathy, and creativity. Understanding the limitations of AI can help you identify where and how to use it most effectively.
- Use AI for efficient and effective analysis: AI can be incredibly useful in analyzing large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. This can save you time and resources, allowing you to focus your intuition and creativity on what you’re best at.
- This one is super meta…. use AI to improve your intuition: While AI may not be able to replicate human intuition, it can be used to get better at it. For example, you can use AI to analyze customer data and identify patterns and trends that may not be immediately apparent to humans.
I believe there’s no such thing as bad technology.
Machines should and can serve you.
But it’s up to you to learn how to control them.
P.S. I’ve been focusing a lot on AI lately because it’s a big part of what I’m interested in and working with at the moment. But I’d love to learn from you if it’s something you’re interested in too or what else would you want to learn from me.
Just hit reply and let me know.
P.P.S I’m launching a BIG experiment tomorrow. It’s super top secret, but I’ll fill you in on it in a couple of weeks when I have some data to report. It’s gonna be interesting. Stay tuned. In the meantime, if you want to keep up with some of these side projects I’m working on, check out my live mastermind calls every 2 weeks with my buddy Josh.
Quote and reflection of the day:
“A bad day working on your mission is better than a good day living a boring life of mediocrity like everyone else you know. And the best part is, all it takes is a decision to define your mission and go after it. The rest will take care of itself.”
- Ben Settle, Persuasion Secrets of the Worlds’s Most Charismatic & Influential Villains
Do the work and the work will take care of you. When all you focus on are the learning and the process, the result will follow.