Staying Relevant in an Increasingly AI-Enabled World

Whenever I hear discussions about how AI is coming for our jobs, I think, "but they don't understand what they're saying."

Let me clarify: I don't want to be naive, and I'm not a Luddite. I do believe artificial intelligence systems can and will take over many repetitive, patterned, and synthesizing tasks. And I think many of us will take on responsibilities that are increasingly enabled by AI, such as verifying and handling exceptions of invoices received by accounts payable, rather than processing every single invoice. This is a golden opportunity to realize what we've been pointing towards in business transformation for awhile: automating the un-fun part of jobs to leave more time for analysis and insightful decision-making. Let's do it!

But for the immediate future at least, the large language models that have generated a lot of recent buzz lately have a limitation: they don't have a guiding set of principles, beliefs, and insights that they compare new information to. They don't have mental models, guiding frameworks, definitions of truth. Rather, they draw patterns between copious amounts of data, which can often point to true things but are subject to challenges with poor or misleading source data.

This is an opportunity for us humans working to excel in an increasingly AI-enabled world. I believe so strongly in this that I created a notebook based on the template that I've been using for many years to take notes on topics that matter to me. The framework is simple but powerful: focus, understand, and follow through.

Here's what the pair of pages in the Focus + Understand + Follow Through Notebook look like:

Let's walk through each of them.

Focus

Capture notes on the topic at hand, focusing on new, different, or surprising information. Don’t worry too much about format – use bullets, create a quick table, free-associate, whatever it takes to capture the topic at hand.

If anything tangential comes to mind, jot it in the Miscellaneous section, then refocus. Don’t let it distract you any longer than it already has: scribble it down and get back to the good stuff.

Understand

Summarize key points and connect the dots on what you’ve learned. Work to answer: how does it all to come together? why does it matter?

If you’re looking for further inspiration, try one of these:

• What is the first thing you would tell a friend about what you’ve learned?
• What’s the most impactful thing you just took in?
• How has focusing on this topic changed your mind?

Follow Through

Clarify what you’ll do after this, focusing on a next action. In short, start the phrase with a verb and be as specific as you can about what the to-do is.

If you expect a series of action items, queue up the first one and include the rest as “waiting” items.

If you're a digital note-taker, here's a Microsoft Word version for you to adapt as is helpful.

We hope these resources are helpful in staying relevant in an increasingly AI-enabled world. There's a lot to be excited about, and plenty of opportunity for those of us who have a deep understanding of valuable subject areas.

Best wishes in blocking out the rest of the world, focusing on what you’re learning, and then making it count. We’re rooting for you!