I’ve come across posts arguing that Generative AI is a waste of time because the authors haven’t found a good use for it. Some people say that companies are finding it difficult to demonstrate significant returns from implementing AI.
These folks are probably right — for their own situation.
One of the worst things we can do in life is to accept other people’s bold assertions without testing them for ourselves. You know that old adage about one man’s meat being another man’s poison? If you don’t try Gen AI and just listen to what others say, how will you know if it’s useful or not?
Another possibility is that these naysayers have been approaching Gen AI with a fixed mindset.
When I teach Gen AI in my workshops, I make it very clear to the audience that there is no set way to use Gen AI, unlike traditional software like Microsoft Word. As we use Gen AI more frequently, we will discover its strengths and limitations for our specific needs.
After a while, we will become the best Gen AI experts in our realms of expertise. What does this mean?
I have specific prompts that I use in ChatGPT to help me in my teaching and consultancy work. A finance person will find little use for my favourite prompts because they were designed by me for my own needs. And vice versa.
The prompts we use today might not be necessary tomorrow as the technology advances. In fact, I always tell my workshop participants to expect that whatever apps we use now (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini) may be superseded by something better in the next few months. That is the nature of technology—software and hardware become obsolete the moment we start using them.
So what do I actually impart in my workshops? I want people to develop a sense of wonder at what technology can do now, to understand Gen AI’s pros and cons, and most importantly, to embrace constant change.
Ah, “embracing constant change” seems so clichéd. But now technology has not only made such a growth mindset beneficial, it may have made it mandatory.