Ancillary Intelligence

 

Much has been said about the effect of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT on the future of work and learning. I am by no means going to be able to summarize or add to that. I do want to make what I consider a simple and obvious point, which has profound implications for how we prepare ourselves and our kids for the future, which is that these tools are meant to enhance and not replace our intelligence. 

Again, I scarcely consider this to be earth-shattering insight. On the one hand, it makes as much sense to ban AI from classrooms and workplaces as it would be to ban calculators, computers, and the Internet, all of which are tools we humans use to do tasks better and faster. I think most people understand this. 

I think the opposite issue is understood to be more troubling, which is that rather than using these tools to enhance our intelligence, too many people are using them to replace our intelligence. In a classroom setting, this is akin to plagiarism, which is rightly vilified, and it is seen as not accomplishing the goal of education, which is not to regurgitate existing content but to properly understand it. It would be like, well, plagiarism: responding to an essay assignment by submitting someone else’s paper, which in addition to cheating also cheats you of the learning experience you go through when you actually produce your own paper. 

Similarly, in the workplace, people that pass off AI tool output as theirs feels like a form of cheating. But, in an office setting, I would argue the bad feeling comes from a slightly different place. Sure, it lacks in integrity to pass off someone else’s work as yours, whether you are copying from ChatGPT or parroting research without proper citation. But, it is also bad that you haven’t added any of your own value to the task; all you’ve done is move one piece of information from one place to another, and I scarcely need to tell you that there is very little value (from an employee to their workplace, or from a consulting firm to its client, say) in that. As opposed to, say, using ChatGPT to get you started, and then thinking through how to improve that output based on your own smarts. Thoughtfully enhancing your intelligence through AI tools, in other words, rather than blindly replacing your intelligence with their outputs. 

It's weird to realize but no less true that I have two adult children living under my roof, plus a third child who turns double digits in a month. So I process the topic of artificial intelligence as a professional service provider and business leader, but also as a dad. And this dad wants his kids to be intelligent. Which means using tools that help them become more intelligent. And it also means not substituting those tools for intelligence.