The Opposite Of Artificial Intelligence
What’s the opposite of AI? AI refers to artificial intelligence, and for those of you super geeks, AGI refers to artificial general intelligence. AGI takes AI a step further toward autonomous machine thinking, and closer towards HAL and Skynet (if you know, you know). I think it will be a very long time before we get to that level, but the general press would like for you to be worrying about it now. Because, after all, what would human beings be without something else to worry about?
Most actual academics state that the opposite of artificial intelligence is natural intelligence. Some less academic people will say human intelligence. Others go so far as to say there is no opposite of artificial intelligence because AI was created by humans, and therefore is a paradox in and of itself. IMHO, the opposite of AI is PI, or what I refer to as Practical Intelligence. This is what humans bring to the equation, and this is what I firmly believe will enable us to survive and thrive in the age of AI. Let me explain.
How many people did you know throughout your life, maybe from school or from one of your first jobs, who were super smart, got all the best grades and yet had no practical social knowledge? In my day we referred to these people as being “book smart” but lacking “street smarts”. They could memorize and recite anything, but if you took them and dropped them somewhere, they would be lost. Give them a book and they can memorize all the important facts. Give them a room full of people and a goal to make connections that can benefit you or your business, and they will be unsuccessful. Give them a recipe, and they can make dinner. Give them the chance to tell you how something tastes and what it needs, and you may be found wanting. It’s the difference between being able to recite knowledge vs. understanding the practical application of that knowledge to further an idea. Remember that scene in Good Will Hunting when Minnie Driver is getting hit on by the Harvard guy in the pony tail, and Matt Damon comes by, eventually getting into argument over the economic policies of the pre Revolutionary War colonies. The ponytail guy was book smart, but Will was intelligent and street smart as well, and he could formulate his own opinions rather than regurgitating facts straight from a book (if you need to pause and go watch that scene, I’ll wait - it’s worth it). You need Practical Intelligence to succeed in life, and no level of AI is going to be capable of replicating that human characteristic.
Practical Intelligence is defined as “the ability that individuals use to find a more optimal fit between themselves and the demands of the environment through adapting, shaping, or selecting a new environment in the pursuit of personally valued goals” (source: Sternberg, 1985, 1997). Adaptation can certainly be achieved by a machine, but it is still a rules-based adaptation, and not one that accounts for instinct or non-fungible behaviors that are distinctly human. I also feel compelled to point out the idea of “personally valued goals”. Goals in business may be standard, but personal goals are subjective and no LLM or foundational model can account for the variance of personal goals. Once again, I think this proves that we are safe for the foreseeable future. Human beings will never be extinct because of a machine.
But what should you be doing about it? Use these tools in a partnership. Use them as a starting point, or a brainstorming partner. Don’t be afraid of them. Embrace them. Use them to be more efficient, and be sure you are layering your practical knowledge on top of them. An AI can spit out the copy for a website, but you know the persona of the audience you want to engage. It may be able to write you a sales deck, but you know what your boss likes better than anyone, and you know what the person on the other side of the table is doing to respond or not.
So don’t worry so much about your job being taken by a machine quite yet. If you’re reading this column, there’s a good chance you’re more than simply book smart. You have the opportunity to provide Practical Intelligence and you can create value that no machine will be able to do, possibly ever.
And let’s not forget about Apple…
I had to write something this week about Apple. The fact is, I’m a fan boy of theirs and I have been for a very long time. That being said, I have no plans to buy the Vision Pro headset. In fact, I'm far more excited about a 15-inch MacBook Air. I know why Apple released this product at the price point they did. They want the “wow factor” and they want to create the best product in the market, and it looks like they've done that. I also need to point out their product is competitively priced with the Microsoft HoloLens, and both are made for the enterprise. They will come out with something down market in a couple of years, and they will find ways to subsidize the cost and get it into more hands, but Apple doesn’t release a bad product (at least not in the last 20 years), so we all should feel confident that there is a plan. That being said, I can’t wait to play with someone else’s device. I will not be shelling out $3500 for one anytime soon.
I do take donations though!
photo accompanying this post is courtesy of UnSplash
And in terms of letting AI help us…
What do you know about tools that leverage AI to help you get a new job?
Get some help writing your resume with Resum-AI at https://www.resumai.com/ or Rezi at https://www.rezi.ai/
Get feedback on your resume, and update your LinkedIn Profile with Resume Worded at https://resumeworded.com/
Build a better headshot and profile pic with Secta Labs at https://secta.ai/
Too lazy to write anything? Let AI take a stab with KickResume at https://www.kickresume.com/en/ai-resume-writer/
Need to work on “you” a little more? Check Wave.ai https://www.wave.ai/