As with any new technology, we rush to leverage it, thinking the fact that we are leveraging it becomes a differentiating capability. Just look at how many technology companies are trumpeting their incorporation of AI in their products. Marketing materials, sales pitches, everything is, “We are using AI! We have incorporated ChatGPT (insert the name of your favorite LLM), We are doing…..!” Suddenly the AI has become what separates their products from others.
And, as we look through the history of technology disruptions, we’ve seen similar things.
But within the next couple of years, AI won’t be the differentiator. It will be like electricity,* widely accessible wifi, the internet, search, our mobile devices. AI will become a utility that we leverage to support the delivery of our offerings, services, and how we get work done within our organizations.
State differently, AI is simply a utility just like all the other utilities we use to keep the lights on, enable us to communicate, and so forth.
And utilities, since they are used by everyone are not differentiators!
But they are important in helping us do our work. We can’t do business without electricity, web access, telecommunications, our devices. And AI will become another important utility, that we cannot function without.
Just as we depend on internet access to conduct our business; just as we rely on our telecommunications systems/devices to connect with and engage with each other; AI will be a fundamental capability that underlies everything we do.
And, as with other utilities, sometimes we use them poorly. We squander resources, we use them inefficiently and ineffectively. And, as with those resources, there is an implicit and explicit cost to how we use them.
So how are we to view AI if it isn’t a differentiator, but simply a utility?
It’s how we use it to support the development and implementation of our strategies.
How do we use it to improve our workflows, productivity and performance? How do we leverage it as we start looking at problems/opportunities, challenges? How do we leverage it to improve the effectiveness/efficiency/impact of how we work with and engage each other and our customers? How do we leverage it alert us to things that impact what we are trying to do? And the list goes on.
And as I’ve said so many times before, it’s not just how we use it in the development and implementation of our strategies, but it’s do we recognize it’s limitations and how are we dealing with the things that AI can’t do? And, I believe that is probably one of the most important differentiators.
Just like with all other utilities, the most interesting challenges are at the edges of what they can do, and figuring out how we get what we need done.
Afterword: There is an outstanding discussion of this in: AI, Humans and Work: 10 Thoughts.
Afterword: Attached is an AI generated discussion about the article. It went down some paths I hadn’t anticipated, or that I agree with, but I think it is interesting. Enjoy!
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