Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic on today’s news pages. Some fear that AI will take over the world and replace it in some dystopian society. Others take its evolution in stride. What’s becoming clear is that life will change in a revolutionary way. Ethan Mollick agrees and also points to opportunities individuals can take to use AI to create a better life and a better workplace.
Mollick has used AI to teach business schools at the prestigious Wharton School of Business. He shares many of his observations from using AI in classroom assignments. For instance, he’s seen that after learning about AI, students ask less questions in class because they are more comfortable asking a bot instead of raising their hand. He’s also seen the quality of assignments improve as students learn to collaborate with AI technology.
“Co-intelligence” aptly describes Mollick’s general approach. The winners in the AI game, he says, are going to be those who make the most of AI to enhance their personal expertise. Human expertise will continue to be crucial – even more crucial – but must somehow learn to work with AI’s supplemental role. Educationally, he compares AI to the use of calculators in the classroom decades ago. As with mathematics, students still need to learn how things work, but they must also learn how to maximize AI’s assistance in those tasks.
As a software developer, I am fascinated by the ways that programming can enhance human life. Good computational assistance can reduce the tedious tasks of life and enhance life’s quality. But computers and AI can also be wrongly used narrowly to cut down costs – replacing, rather than aiding, human effort. Mollick is not blind to these effects and wants to push us in a healthier direction. Of course, we must take his bait.
Anyone interested in building a better social future with AI will find this book intriguing. While, as the title alludes, life does play a role in this book, Mollick’s business professor persona shines strongly. Work has a predominant place in most of our lives, and AI has creatively disrupted and will continue to disrupt this space. Only attentive effort will build a better future for us. Although I don’t embrace the dystopian view of AI’s future, it certainly is a possibility without focused effort. I’m grateful that Mollick gave me some nuggets to ponder as I build my own future.
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI
By Ethan Mollick
Narrated by Ethan Mollick
Copyright (c) 2024
Penguin Audio
ASIN B0CNFCRJ77
Length: 4:39
Genre: Computer Science, Society
www.amazon.com