4 minutes until you receive an auto-generated answer...
What if I told you that quick answers are part of the problem rather than the solution to creating long-term value with generative AI?
How would you feel about receiving a message like this after you typed in a question in a chatbot like ChatGPT or Bing?
My guess is you wouldn't like it.
You consulted a chatbot to get a quick answer, and if the tool you are using forces you to wait 4 minutes, you might consider using another one.
But what if I told you that quick answers are part of the problem rather than the solution to creating long-term value with generative AI?
Would you reconsider?
I have good reason to believe that the only sustainable way for us to develop and use generative AI is to integrate features that remind us of the weaknesses of the machine's capabilities – and the strengths of our own.
🦾 The STRENGTHS OF AI are obvious:
It is independent of time and place and can therefore provide quick, compelling solutions to any problem anytime, anywhere.
🕰️ And so are the HUMAN WEAKNESSES:
We are limited in time and place and thus to see the world from one side at a time, one moment at a time.
The reverse is less obvious, and so we need to be reminded that to create long-term value in a world that – like ourselves – has limited time and resources, quick, compelling solutions are never enough.
The weakness of AI is that it (literally) has no time to assess which problems are most important to solve, what makes a good solution, and whether the solution makes sense to the people it is supposed to help.
These questions can only be answered by someone who knows the context of the problem – and no matter how much information we feed the machine, it will never get the contextual insight that comes with being part of the context.
The speed and seemingly convincing solutions that come with not being bound by time and place also come with the limitation of not knowing what is important in which contexts.
💪 Fortunately, what is impossible for machines comes easily to us humans.
It just requires that we have the mind-space to spend a few minutes listening to our own experiences and thoughts.
And perhaps AI-driven chatbots can help us create this mind-space by occasionally pausing its quick answers and reminding us that anything other than auto-generated responses are our responsibility?