I’ve seen reports recently that 70% of knowledge workers aren’t using AI regularly. I can understand why: We see a lot of anti-AI press and AI slop fills our social media feeds. But those of us that are using AI as a tool are seeing some solid wins.
The best AI use cases I’ve seen in the last year aren’t flashy. They’re usually pretty boring. Drafting the email you’ve been putting off. Researching a topic in minutes instead of hours. Building a throwaway mockup website in an afternoon (ok, that can be a little flashy). Troubleshooting a problem so you can get back to the work that actually matters. It often comes down to reducing toil and improving flow. The same principles car manufacturers applied in the 90s and IT shops embraced in the 2010s. If you were around for the birth of DevOps, this should feel familiar.
AI is most effective when it speeds up things people are already responsible for. That person can work faster, think more clearly, and produce better outcomes. It consistently fails when you take the human out of the loop. Copying and pasting from ChatGPT into Outlook without reviewing, refining, and owning what you send is not The Way. You are still accountable for what you produce.
If you haven’t started yet, consider picking a single task this week that feels tedious and try using AI to speed it up. Stay in control. Own the outcome. AI is a tool to speed up human work, and if you use it for a single task this week, you’re ahead of 70% of your peers.
(image credit: Newman Web Solutions, CC BY-NC 4.0)