Taking the Temperature, Capturing Emotions

AI in its many forms is a technology that is penetrative and yet-to-be understood. There are so many opinions, mostly biased. So, we often wonder “how to best swim in this sea?” Americans may be experiencing a mixture of curiosity, anxiety, skepticism, empowerment, overwhelm---often simultaneously. (This list is what AI tells me are the most common emotions connected to AI adoption.) Notice that some are relatively positive emotions, and others fuel thoughts such as “will AI take my job?” can creativity thrive with the dominance of tools that appear to do the heavy lifting of concept making” “what happens to originality?”

At smith &beta, we dig a few layers deeper and recognize a need for safe and open discussions on the feelings that AI evokes. Learning experiences provide a safe space for sharing and processing specific to a work culture. In thinking through a learning sequence, first we think about what is unique to being human then match it against an AI equivalent. Or, we think about how AI can unburden folks from repetitive tasks. I believe that most LLMs can be thought of as teenagers. I don’t want a teenager to critique the poetry that I write, for instance. But I do realize that it is this particularly sophisticated teenager can access and compile more information that I want to manage. As an instruction designer, I grow in my abilities to identify problems and design against them, and I’ll admit that LLMs help. With the tools, I also mindfully manage my feelings and my thoughts.

Fun fact: The smith& beta blog is conceptualized and written by a human and is susceptible to errors. We embrace our own humanity but also have the humility to ask ChatGPT for the occasional grammar and spell checks. How about you?

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