Jon, that's some of the most insightful commentary on AI - or A1 as the cognoscenti call it - as I have read. I have only used it for the simplest tasks and was not really sure why until I read your closing paragraph "The goal isn't to avoid AI—it's to maintain our own sense of humanity.." I'm working on a Substack post today because I needed to write to find out what I think. So your post had a particular resonance. Humanity is individuality not the summation of individualities.
On your point about a returning boss, as they say, the road to self awareness runs through others so eliciting fresh perspectives is one of the most important things a manager does. When I was a manager (in MY day) I used to ask new employees what they thought we were doing wrong or not doing very well. It was a stupid question because no new employee is going to give a truthful answer to that. i got better results when I asked what surprised them. It didn't require a value judgment and I almost always went away with something to ponder.
Thank you for your kind words, Doug. I also use writing to help me figure out what I think!! I can’t wait to read what you have to say. Asking new employees about what surprises them is such a good question. I can only imagine what you were able to learn with that approach!
Thank you for a smart and realistic meditation on generative AI!
Thank YOU!!! 🙏🏻🩷🩷🩷
Jon, that's some of the most insightful commentary on AI - or A1 as the cognoscenti call it - as I have read. I have only used it for the simplest tasks and was not really sure why until I read your closing paragraph "The goal isn't to avoid AI—it's to maintain our own sense of humanity.." I'm working on a Substack post today because I needed to write to find out what I think. So your post had a particular resonance. Humanity is individuality not the summation of individualities.
On your point about a returning boss, as they say, the road to self awareness runs through others so eliciting fresh perspectives is one of the most important things a manager does. When I was a manager (in MY day) I used to ask new employees what they thought we were doing wrong or not doing very well. It was a stupid question because no new employee is going to give a truthful answer to that. i got better results when I asked what surprised them. It didn't require a value judgment and I almost always went away with something to ponder.
Thanks and keep up the good work.
Thank you for your kind words, Doug. I also use writing to help me figure out what I think!! I can’t wait to read what you have to say. Asking new employees about what surprises them is such a good question. I can only imagine what you were able to learn with that approach!
Interesting stuff on boomerang employees.