This topic came up in a conversation with two friends last week. In life, there are no easy answers or correct ones, but there is always an answer that works for me. Every one of us is unique. Our situations, our needs and wants, and our contexts are all different – all of this and more need to be factored into the answer.
My version of the truth is “I must use and experiment with AI to stay relevant and find creative ways to leverage the power and possibilities it opens up for me. The more I play around with it, the better prepared I will be to navigate my way forward.”
The questions don’t end – “Should I use Chat GPT or Genmini or Perplexity? Should I experiment with just words or also images and video? Is it better to ‘train’ one to get the best out of it, as it gets more familiar with me and my style, or play the field and enjoy all that is out there?”
Then there is another set of questions related to how I feel while using the tool to sharpen my output or enhance speed and productivity. “Why do I feel a bit guilty using AI? Somehow it makes me feel like my work product is not really mine. Like I’m cheating (not sure who)…”
And then in the middle of trying to answer the question “Should I use AI to write?” something larger reared its head. “Is AI rewriting the script of my life?”
As the conversation meandered through these and other points, one of my friends who used to work in the corporate world and is now an entrepreneur (let’s call her Ms. Sunshine) said “I find that it’s a wonderful tool to help me break down and finalise my task list for the day. Entrepreneurship is difficult. With the help of AI, I feel it’s easier. It’s like having a boss who tells me this is what needs to be done.”
This stopped me in my tracks. How easily AI can become the boss of me if I let it.
Last year in a training workshop that I attended with my colleagues at Adfactors, we were taught that working with Chat GPT (or any of the others) was like having a smart intern available to us 24×7. The output it delivered depended a lot on the clarity of instruction we gave this new intern. In less than a year it appears that the intern has got multiple promotions and has now become boss material. If the tables turned so quickly, I cannot imagine what would come next.
One thing I have figured out with a fair degree of certainty – when using AI disclosure matters.
When I am using AI, I feel it’s always good to let the recipients of my work know the extent and the reason why I used it. With disclosure comes choice. It is the ethical thing to do. A bit like food labelling. Customers have the right to know what they are consuming and they can then make informed choices that work best for them.
Oh, before I forget, I just realised the original question is still unanswered. “Should I use AI to write?” For me, at least for now, the answer is no. Not because it won’t sharpen my writing, but because it will dull my brain and my self-awareness. I write to figure out what’s going on in my head and my heart. I write to help me process my world. I write to get clarity. I write for catharsis. I write to find ways to feel my feelings and share what’s going on in my world. I write to remind myself. I write to let it all out. I write to connect with myself and others. Do I want to give this gift away?
Since this is my reason for writing Chat GPT cannot be my answer. I cannot outsource my daily walk to another who is faster or fitter. I have got to put in the steps. More importantly, I enjoy being out in nature with my friends the trees, and my thoughts as I clock in my 10,000 steps. So for me, given my context and my love for writing, the answer is “No…… No, AND keep playing with AI, find ways to use it creatively, have fun with it, learn about its limitations and downsides, and learn to surf the waves of change”. It’s not a no to change. It’s not a no to what’s new. That would be short-sighted and stupid. I must embrace all AI can offer, but do it my way.
What am I seeking? How do I want to feel? These are questions to ask myself when I lean into the arms of AI.
One of the most fun ways I used it recently was to write a script for a video as part of a training exercise on visual communication. It gave me a script for a video in under 30 seconds and then two colleagues starred in a video that I was the voice-over artist. It is the most fun two minutes I have had. AI made those moments possible. It’s a shared memory and a really fun (or at least we think so) video involving a peppermint tea bag as the protagonist that explains what PR and Reputation management are all about. I hope to get permission one day from the two lead actors to share the video on social media, but for now, it’s our private AI inspired masterpiece.
What was I seeking? I was seeking learning and it required speed of action (the exercise was to shoot a 2-minute video explaining PR using a peppermint teabag. This task had to be accomplished in 10 minutes.) How did I want to feel? I wanted to enjoy the exercise and create something I felt happy about.
Here is me reminding myself to keep playing with AI and having fun. Somewhere along the way, the answers will emerge.
Our challenge now is to find what is real.
The truth of what AI is and will become will reveal itself. Like the force of gravity, it will pull us into the future. Nature is a great reminder of some universal truths. The sun will rise. The sun will set. Our interpretation of the sunrise and sunset is ours. The sun is real. The earth is real. Once upon a time, we thought the Earth was flat and the sun was a God. What is real? What is real for me? Will AI shape reality or will it merely shape my reality? The old saying “perception is reality” comes to mind. In a new world that is prone to ‘hallucination’ and will enable me to mimic the voice and tone of another at will, what is real is already becoming difficult to fathom. Whom to trust? What to trust? This trust deficit is what makes the art and science of reputation management more valuable than ever before.
What is real? This song brought tears to my eyes. My tears were real – the video, AI-generated. The backstory about the 54-year-old carpenter whose wife and son left him and the stage that he supposedly sang it on, America’s Got Talent, is completely fake. Which brings me back to the question. What is real? The lyrics of the song are amazing. Heartfelt and I am sure many a father will know this feeling as they watch their loved ones fly away on their journeys. This brings me back to my point on disclosure. The first time I watched it, I did not know it was AI-generated. The link embedded here contextualises it and makes it clear that it is done using AI. The song remains the same, but the way I receive it changes.
Public relations will grow in relevance as AI blurs the lines of reality and this presents a tremendous opportunity. The relevance of Reputation management just got amplified, because the velocity of fake news also increased. The same holds for coaching. The need to see myself and my truth in this world of optics and half-truths will be in demand. To look within and find my real honest self and then live life from this place of clarity and authenticity will become more important as we confront this new challenge of “finding what is real”. This quest for realness that an AI-infused world brings into focus gives me hope.
(AI was used to generate the image accompanying this article (at what cost to the planet I am not sure). The AI song really did bring tears to my eyes.)
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
A trusted coaching and communications professional, Nikhil Dey is a certified life and leadership coach (International Coach Federation - ICF). Nurturing talent and helping clients achieve their goals is what makes him happy. He loves learning from students of communication, teaching courses and guest lecturing at various educational institutions. When he is not working you will find him on the tennis court or out for long walks with his family and four legged friends.
Previously he has held senior leadership positions at Weber Shandwick and Genesis BCW.
He can be reached on twitter @deydreaming
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