We ask if anyone like to join our conversation on FOBO (fear of becoming obsolete)? Not an insignificant feeling to have with AI’s encroachment into many professions, many small tasks and large responsibilities. We stand by wondering what we can control, when the shifts will happen within our profession…? The reporting from Cannes offers examples of the AI changing a well-established, gigantic industry.
I don’t know about you, but I have gone through the thought exercise of, “okay, AI, even the most sophisticated agentic types absolutely cannot do (fill in the blank.) `I come up with, for example, planting a rose garden, wiping a tear, listening with the compassion of an organic life form to a friend’s joys and fears. I enjoy those actions, but seldom can they be combined into a living wage.
Some change we might relish, like a tedious repetitive task made obsolete or AI-driven customer service (when it works seamlessly). Chat GPT listed what we are feeling about the AI revolution (see last week’s post) and what I often hearare the more negative side of what is being discussed. These feelings might stem from a lack of control in the design or infusion of AI into our work and the genuinely horrifying projections about the percentages of the white-collar workforce that will be redundant soon.
Andrew Ng softened the FOBO fears, or tried, when he said (a paraphrase)AI won’t take you job but the people who know how to use it will. smith &beta has these discussions in curriculum design meetings. Our corner in the AI culture shift has to do with helping people and AI work together. First there is the basic understanding, the foundations-level, and then there is role-specific learning content which never remains still.
We will be having a virtual conversation on FOBO and we’ll keep it positive because we acknowledge fears that come from real information, but also move forward with the work that we want to do and shape what we can. How about you?
Quote of the Week: "I know one thing, that I know nothing" - Socrates (hah, Chat GPT doesn't know what it doesn't know!)
