The AI First Work Strategy

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This is a hypothetical article, whilst i’ve worked a lot with AI myself and am always watching talks and opinions on AI closely, its essential to remember that technology could go in any direction – it could be that the capabilities of AI is overly hyped, or our predictions are false.

Note: This article has not been influenced by, or written by AI.

Summary: The AI first Work Strategy isn’t about competing with machines, its choosing to be radically human even when the machines are ahead.

The Reality of AI Work

It’s a complicated business, this AI. My thoughts continuously close in on my own flavor of existential dread about my career, unemployment and mass layoffs. Uncertainty lives close to the core of life and all of its challenges, achievements and failures. What a journey we’ve all been on, just for a new intelligence to crop up and steam what we thought was ours. Our careers.

I ponder with an analytical approach to two sides of the AI arguments – AI for the good of humanity and its ugly brother, the negative destructive AI. After-all AI can be used to reshape society; healthcare treatments and scientific breakthroughs pioneer this space.

The ability to predict the impact to society is a confusing manor, sparking philosophical debates and the expects have come out with their own flavors of existential dread, at-least the ones without investors. CEO’s claiming AI needs safeguards and yet set sail to venture in military application software. Yet, historically these “techBRO”‘s have felt that same dread and likely still do – but they represent profit, and in American commerce it’s practically illegal to put anything else above profit.

AI doesn’t signal the immediate departure from traditional jobs, but its important to use your own critical thinking to identify how and where to implement it. We’ll be sold a vision but thats rarely how the future works out, and its up to everyone not those specifically in tech to guide the direction of AI to make it something moral, in line with an individuals values and to make the technology a reflection of ourselves.

Workers who now adopt AI are ahead. Operating at a lower level are those who don’t adopt shifts in technology no matter how strange they may feel. Look back at the adoption of graphic design software as an example, and you’ll see a shift from those using rulers and pens to a system of sending artwork designed on a screen right to the printers in a click for mass production. How times have changed.

Why an AI-First Approach Matters

In the past, we, society – often assumed new technologies would create new jobs at the same rate as old ones are destroyed; however research suggests that since the 1980’s technology has out paced the job market – “Replaced more U.S jobs than it generated” – news.mit.edu.

We’re being told that our skills, our roles, our jobs will be “transformed”. History and data give us the clues that this just isn’t guaranteed. Add this to the speed of AI progress – from GPT-4 to image, audio, video and code generators and its no wonder the majority seem uneasy. We have a drive to overcome an unpredictable future but the landscape is shifting, faster than our anxieties can keep up with.

A healthier relationship with work.

After all society as a whole will be impacted. It’s tempting to bury our heads in the sand and hope everything’s fine, but from my own experience i’ve come to realize that our nature pushes us to solve problems before they hit us full force.

And its not just about Money, its about meaning.

AI doesn’t just threaten employment; it may very well enhance it. It enhances the social scaffolding build around work – identity, routine, community and progression.

We’re sold slogans like “AI will do everything now, go be a plumber.” It’s the kind of advice that masquerades as wisdom but in reality it is self-protective and individualistic. But theres hope. Amid all the change, the bigger challenge is psycological. When work shifts quickly, people often feel uncertain about their role. They key is to start anchored in something larger than any tool; your purpose. Your skills. Your ability to grow.

We can use these to build healthier relationship, reduce the mundain tasks and build tooks and utilities that are actually meaningful, and empower those who use them.

A practical strategy for today

The idea that we can “just switch careers” is a naive standpoint, maybe a dangerous one. Most people can not afford to start from scratch, and they have families, responsibilities, debts and all the other quirks of life. Our modern economy doesn’t pause for individual reinvention and certainly doesn’t promote it. Even if you can switch, how viable is it? Retraining takes years and we’re being told to move careers that might not exist in a decade.. or worse, might themselves be automated before we complete our training.

It becomes a question on return on effort. Is re-educating and swapping out skills buying us security? or are we just delaying – or causing more pain – on the inevitable.

Wow what doom and gloom. But lets counter that argument – AI is powerful, it doesn’t just replace jobs and it doesn’t mean that we should just hand the keys to AI for everything. It means adapting, and designing our lives to work with AI. This includes dedefining responsibilites, debs, quirks and even luxuries.

As AI becomes a normal part of life, the value of strong communication, emotional intelligence and even creative thinking increases. These are the capabilities of professionals creating a distinct outlook that the tools we use are not the skills we have.

Future AI Problems

Whats coming is not only job losses, it’s structural. Structural instability. Rising wealth-gaps, exploitative misuse of AI, AI militarization and even the erosion of privacy and trust between people. AI might possibly write your next cancer treatment and help treat it, but it could also fuel disinformation so strong that the democratic institutions erode, and elections fracture – the observations of many would suggest that this is already happening; even as early as the use of technology like Cambridge Analytica using targeted advertising and the manipulation social mechanics to sway political results.

This is not a hypothetical threat but one that is already in play.

Our mindsets again allow us to go in negative apocolyptic views of where this technology could take us. AI will be used and abused, for scams and data manipulation – but at the same time tools are being developed to counter these problems. Enhancements in encryption and cyber security will offset the risks and as we all use AI more; we’ll become used to the traps and tricks of scamers and those using AI in bad faith.

So what now?

Wow, what a despairing article! Ideally its a narrative that many less optimistic individuals might see themselves leaning in to. Its a summary of the collective thinking, and the dramas that seem to be unfolding. I think it requires more collective thinking to resolve AI’s impact on our lives, and we may need to redefine our own values, the values of connection, presence, wisdom, impact.

It’s clear that rather than chasing the “next job” our societies need to form deeper strategies in things that can not be replaced, things like empathy, emotions, HUMAN creativity, values, connection and even nuance. Its not the solution, but maybe a start.