AI Is Dead, Long Live AI

There’s an old Zen line: “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” The point isn’t disrespect. It’s that even the thing you’re chasing can become the obstacle. AI is having a Buddha moment in business right now. Kill it, and you can finally have the conversation that matters: what’s actually broken in your business.

A recent story published by Fast Company stated “More than 40% of LinkedIn posts longer than 250 words were flagged as being fully written by AI.”

On the site dedicated to professional networking users are passing off machine-generated content as their own.

Admission here: I’ve used AI for drafts and editing but the ideas are mine. Still, where do I draw the line on what is me vs my machine?

AI content is increasingly difficult to spot. For example, you can train an AI to write in your voice. The AI will adapt your style, grammatical errors and all. It may sound like you, but it’s not you.

For this reason (and others), I understand the distrust of AI. I’ve had more than one interaction in which I thought I had a personalized conversation, only to realize later it was a machine. It didn’t feel good.

AI moves fast and the news cycle is relentless. The result is FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt). As a business owner you may ask: Is AI real? Will it work for me? How does AI make a difference?

That is all valid. That’s when it is good to step back and get perspective.

Don’t start with AI. Start with the business problem.

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. AI is a powerful tool, but that does not make every business problem an AI problem.

Where is there a ROI? How do I discover the benefits of AI for my business in an efficient way?

Here’s the trick. Declare that AI is dead. Then start. It’s not about AI in your business. It’s about where in your business is there room for improvement. What processes or routines could run better if you had more resources? Example: Do you have recurring manual processes in your business? If yes, that’s when you consider how to improve and AI is only one of the potential solutions. There is tremendous potential to unlock, but this shift in mindset is key. You must be willing to address the question, “What can we do better?” Then you can ask, “What can we do better with AI?”

If you want to improve your results, make more money, or have more time off, look at your business first. What can be improved? Once you find the gaps, only then do you consider the possible solutions. AI might fit, but you won’t know till you ask.

So start with “AI Is Dead, Long Live AI” then see how the conversation goes.

Source: LinkedIn is the most AI-saturated platform, new study suggests, Fast Company.