Will AI Replace You?
Not if You Apply the Sophistication of Self-Preservation
If you are thinking about AI and the future-of-work, you very well should be because AI is revolutionizing the world and changing how we fundamentally work and live. And doing it at a much faster pace than anyone could have predicted. However, if you’re sitting there in fear, worried about how AI could replace you but doing nothing about it, then it most likely will replace you. Many of us have become like deer caught in the headlights when it comes to AI and change, but standing still only assures that you’re going to get run over. Therefore, adapting to your changing environment is a fundamental imperative to self-preservation.
The next step is to apply your intelligence to adaptation which is at the heart of the Sophistication of Self-Preservation | SSP. We can look to Darwinian’s theory of evolution which tells us that only the fit survive. So fitness simply reflects how well an organism adapts to changing or harsh environments. Accordingly, the species that have better adaptability will not only survive but will thrive in the most challenging of environments. In the human ecosystem, adaptation comes through economic security which requires wealth and building, then passed down intergenerationally to ensure your family’s continuity. On the flip side, the less adaptive will carry the burden of those who applied intelligence; they will become less relevant, marginalized and moved to the periphery of life. The universe doesn’t know who you are and the universe doesn’t care about you, so you either adapt or suffer. This is how the world works — SSP!
Therefore, if you put the time into applying your intelligence to the things that affect you the most you will come to recognize that AI can be your friend. Your path to economic security and thriving in the universe. You will also fast recognize that AI does not represent an existential threat or displacement to your career if you are applying your intelligence. Harvard Business Review (HBR) recently published a study titled, 5 Ways to Future-Proof Your Career in the Age of AI. The analysis is helpful because it puts AI and the future of work into perspective, providing five ways in adapting to an AI-driven world, that if applied will give you an edge over others in a competitive career environment.
The first of the five is to avoid predictability. It is important to understand that AI is not generating any new insights; it’s simply aggregating and predicting language based on prompts. Essentially, programmed algorithms give you the impression of knowledge; prompted by AI-generated language underwritten by machine learning — it predicts and proliferates. Nevertheless, humans who are applying their human intelligence can create significant value for themselves in the future-of- work. This is because human value comes through very human experiences — relationships, successes and setbacks — this is your competitive advantage, your value proposition. If you can harness, package and deliver to the universe your value in the universe will go up, and so will your earning power. Because if you can’t create and present value in the universe, the universe will devalue you.
Humans have the cognitive ability to process information in real-time, applied intelligence is their ai to process things through human experiences — learning and continued knowledge building. ChatGPT database only goes up to 2021; time and place are highly relevant! AI has no texture, it is synthetic versus pure, and we all know that pure is better than artificial.
Number 2, hone in on the skills that AI tries to imitate. While AI can imitate, it can’t ever be human, it’s just a predicting algorithm. It can display empathy, self-awareness, and creativity, however, in reality, it’s just a constructive illusion. So don’t become delusional about reality by AI, know exactly what it is — and then chill! It’s a machine and humans make machines, so humans have the power. Therefore, if you can see AI for what it is, an augmenting tool, then you can release your fear and anxiety about it. You can then focus on leveraging your unique value-creating proposition to your employer, entrepreneurship, and the universe.
The third point is to double down on the real world. AI can’t disrupt our metaphysical existence, authentic communication, and our connections with each other, because business is still very much dependent on human interactions and socialization. Even in the most scientific of jobs or functions, for example, in the physical environment; science can do the math, but only a human can describe the wind, the clouds, and the sun in our face. How things make you feel has tremendous value in the equation, it is an essential variable, and by leaving it out you weaken the equation’s value to the universe. This is anti-intellectual and unscientific. So carve out your space in the universe and don’t buy into the wilfully ignorant discourse about AI. It is fundamentally the same thing that has been happening on this planet for thousands of years of Homo sapiens existence — adaptation! So nothing fundamentally changes in human evolution, only technology does!
This leads us to the fourth insight, which is about investing in your brand. Again, AI is a tool that presents generic work that can help accentuate and confirm your creativity value. So the ones who should be concerned about AI replacing them are the more technical and advisory type people, the task-driven jobs. To name a few: engineering, medical diagnostics, investment analysis, lawyers who just cut and paste all day long and charge stupid rates, and consultants who are not subject matter experts, but charge like they are. AI will do it better, extraordinarily faster, and at a fraction of the cost. AI will continue to get better at it — this is where authentic content creators, innovators and critical thinkers, risk-takers — entrepreneurial people will thrive in the future-of-work. For example, if everyone is using ChatGPT to create content, then how can it be original? Like art, the value is in the original work which is connected to a human, intertwined in her very personal experiences. AI Art can’t ever be original, for the simple fact that nothing about it is original!
The 5th and final way to future-proof yourself is to develop recognized expertise in your industry, so “even if AI performs first draft functions, its output still has to be double-checked by a trusted, reliable source,” according to the Harvard Business Review. Therefore, human executive decision-making will remain highly necessary and central to everything for the considerable future. Therefore, if you are willing to engage with AI and learn more, separate yourself from the ignorance of the herd, and adapt and apply yourself to the new economy reality. History is on your side — you will thrive! You will be well sought after, and in high demand for your creative and innovative self — individualism is always original! Your ability to reinvent and reinvest in yourself, enhance and refine your outputs; your unique value proposition will create extraordinary value in the universe!
