If you’re curious about artificial intelligence and how it will affect your business and your life, Cameron Moll has a pretty good idea. Moll is a veteran design professional who has managed design and technology teams for the past two-plus decades at companies including Meta, Pendo, Buzzsprout and Desquared. In a recent LinkedIn post he wrote: “Even though the current tsunami of information around AI can be negative — especially how AI may impact our work or lack of it — the truth is that AI promises to be a workforce reporting to the direction and leadership of capable and intelligent humans.”
Moll went on to summarize all the AI tools and apps worth exploring — and there are many — then wrapped up with this: “Here’s a disclaimer I’m willing to bet my career on: When the AI dust settles, there will remain an evergreen need for taste and style at the hands of a professional, the ability to judge with your gut, methodical work at a slower pace, typographic mastery, and so much more that we do as designers.”
Assist, not replace
In other words, AI will assist but not replace human creativity. That goes for content, too: Writers should look at AI as a robust tool, but original and creative ideas still flow from them. AI might have access to massive sources of existing data, but it cannot deliver a brand new idea. Humans have that ability and must learn how they can manage the power of AI in ways that complement that unique strength. AI was also the topic of a panel discussion at the recent BC Communications Forum in Victoria. “AI is here to stay,” said panellist Rob Cooper, founder and president of PlusROI Marketing. “It’s not necessarily for the best and there may be terrifying implications, but as individuals we can choose to be proactive in managing AI. In short, get out in front of it or get run over by it.”
Cooper also said the biggest misconception around AI is that all you need to do is input data. “You need to leverage your own expertise,” he said. “Think of AI as an extremely smart intern. If you train it well and give clear instructions, it can do amazing things for you. Without enough training and guidance, the results will border on disaster.”
Fellow panellist Deepali Arora is a senior data scientist for Oracle, based in Victoria and working on a significant AI project. She acknowledged AI’s potential to create a lot of good for our world, but noted that there are also challenges that are better managed earlier than later. She saw AI as “a blessing and a curse.”
The Agentic Workforce
Let me introduce you to the AI Agent. This entity is fully autonomous. Unlike bots or assistants, which are limited in their scope by programming, once set up agents can observe, analyze, plan, collaborate (with humans or other agents) and — here’s the fun part — self- refine.
Different from AI assistants or bots, agents work on your behalf to gather information, analyze and make decisions based on the environment they work in. Can they be trusted to deliver therapy or understand complex nuances dependent on emotional intelligence? Heck no.
According to Google Cloud: “AI agents with planning capabilities can identify the necessary steps, evaluate potential actions, and choose the best course of action based on available information and desired outcomes. This often involves anticipating future states and considering potential obstacles.”
OK, so that’s cool.
Becoming Better
Even though AI and humans are capable of self-refining and learning, there are gaps because AI can only learn what it is provided, whether in the environment or directly. Guess where new roles will emerge? Writing prompts, creating agent personas, managing teams of agents and more. People need to take the lead and steer AI in the right direction, whether that’s design, content or complex operational processes.
To prepare for this next stage there is a real opportunity for democratizing knowledge for emerging tech skills — and AI is at the top of the skills list.
The University of California is offering a free course called Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Ethics; Harvard is offering AI with Python; and Vanderbilt University has a six-module course called Prompt Engineering with ChatGPT. Its course description says it all: “Start by learning effective prompting and complete the course knowing how to bend ChatGPT to your will.”
Where to Start
During February’s BC Communications Forum panel on AI, moderated by acting assistant deputy minister with Strategic Communications BC Eric Berndt, AI ethics consultant Rahaf Albalkhi talked about bias in AI.
“AI systems are intrinsically built on bias. In fact, without bias, AI systems are useless,” she said. “We humans run on opinions and context, we operate on a self-bias. So how do we work around it?”
Albalkhi then defined responsible AI and ethical AI:
- Responsible AI is practical, process- based and real world; its users must consider all the implications of AI that directly affect people.
- Ethical AI is values based and can be harder to develop policy around. One example is how the European Union has mandated that employers who ask their staff to use AI must provide them with adequate training. It’s a great starting point for the human/AI evolution.
Robyn Quinn is an award-winning storyteller. A public relations entrepreneur and small business owner of Big Bang Communications, she is happiest when her clients shine in the spotlight.
Image: Getty Images
