The Intelligence Power-up: Generative AI is not just about Efficiency
This image was generated with the assistance of AI.
This article first appeared in Medium.
Generative AI isn’t just about speeding up (or fully automating) tasks — it’s a tool that enhances human intelligence and improves the quality of your work output. In fact, I think much of the focus on efficiency gains (and the subsequent debate about workforce reductions) misses the point. While certainly a benefit of Generative AI, in my experience, the more consequential outcome of Generative AI is that it amplifies cognitive abilities, enabling higher quality work in the same (or yes, in some cases even less) amount of time.
The Intelligence Amplifier
Generative AI is a performance-enhancing (but of course legal!) drug for your brain, not just an automated way to replace your task-completion process. Or better yet, think of it as a power-up boost from your favorite childhood video game; instead of a superpower that lets you break brick walls and crush bad guys, it amplifies your thinking so you can break hard-to-solve problems and crush innovative thinking. There are several different ways that this “power boost” comes to fruition.
Beyond just task replacement, one of the obvious use cases that gets discussed a lot is that Generative AI can transform vast amounts of data into actionable insights, empowering people to make more informed decisions quickly. This form of a power-up isn’t just about working faster — it’s about augmenting human intelligence to drive smarter decisions — i.e., working more intelligently with the same amount of available data. Examples include
Analyzing (and summarizing) NPS survey feedback data,
Sentiment analysis of customer reviews, and
Simple summarization of longer documents and datasheets.
I talked about idea generation in previous articles. Generative AI is a great collaborator on this front. Sometimes, more really is better. You can quickly cycle through ideas and get to one that is either great or a core idea that you can further mold into something excellent. The beauty is that generative AI won’t get annoyed or have its feelings hurt if you shoot down 98% of the ideas… or at least that’s what I hope is true. AI can’t learn passive aggressiveness, can it?!? But I digress.
Examples of super-charging ideation include
Ideas for a blog post (to get especially specific!),
Outlines for in-person workshops to accomplish a particular goal and
Generating questions for interviewing candidates or posing thought-provoking comments in an important meeting.
An underestimated, little-discussed use case is that AI can also create micro-learning experiences, acting like a personalized virtual mentor/research assistant throughout your day. This Generative AI power-up is primarily about gaining knowledge of a particular topic or concept more efficiently than you could by just searching for something on Google. You can get distilled answers on complex topics and be able to ask follow-up questions as needed. By enhancing our ability to learn and process information, Generative AI supports the development of expertise in a previously unattainable way. The fact that you can ask follow-up questions to get a deeper understanding alone is like a game-changing cheat code! The result is that you can achieve higher levels of knowledge — i.e., get more intelligent — in less time.
Examples:
Getting quickly up to speed on new technology (e.g., how do LLMs work);
Understanding how to use and apply frameworks used in your discipline (e.g., Jobs to be Done);
Building on the previous bullet, prompting an LLM to draft the first version of a framework for your specific use case.
A more sophisticated “knowledge attainment” use case example is to have Generative AI create personalized learning experiences, complete with quiz questions and all. I have yet to experiment enough with this use case to go into depth, but I know it’s possible just by using it to help my kid study for a middle school social studies test. This AI power-up is undoubtedly gaining traction and is the topic of much discussion in education and ed-tech. Still, it can be leveraged in corporate/professional settings as well.
Examples of using Generative AI for professional learning:
Developing onboarding resources and interactive tools beyond the typical training materials will allow new employees to ask questions and get contextual answers independently.
Continuous learning paths to ensure skills remain relevant in a changing technology landscape.
Create an AI “job coach” or a way to get automated feedback on work scenarios or computer code.
As the use cases above illustrate, the real value of AI is that it can be used to magnify the abilities of your employees. AI enables professionals to work faster and smarter, improving the overall quality of work output. More importantly, improving the quality of work also improves the outcomes for your employees, customers, and your company. Better yet, these tools can empower employees to develop their skills and improve their output autonomously. What isn’t to love about that?!?
All Roads Point to Intelligent Digital Transformation
Beyond “faster & smarter,” the future of transformation efforts — the process by which an established company reinvents process and the way of doing business, primarily driven by technological advances — will start incorporating AI as a critical component. It may take some time before transformation driven by AI takes off, but it’s being discussed now — with some anxiety and urgency — in corporate boardrooms and leadership Zoom calls at companies worldwide. This may be the ultimate “level up” in digital transformation efforts.
Unlocking abilities to move faster and smarter will eventually lead to paradigm-shifting changes and even revolutionary innovations. Think about how the first mobile phones eventually led to smart devices that eventually evolved into the full-scale computers we carry in our pockets today. This, in turn, significantly up-ended how we work and interact (for better and for worse) with each other. It’s difficult to know exactly how this will play out with generative AI, but we can be assured that ways of working and interacting will fundamentally change in the years ahead.
But to bring us back down from the clouds for a moment, this all starts with generative AI enhancing our skillsets and applied to daily tasks, making professionals faster and smarter. Better decisions and more profound innovations will eventually lead to companies evolving their ways of working and how customers expect to interact with us. Whether or not this evolution becomes a revolution is still TBD — and frankly, nobody knows. But either way you look at it, the shift will be profound.
AI is both a partner and a driver in this journey. Combining human ingenuity with AI capabilities will lead to extraordinary results and unlock the next wave of business innovation and transformation across industries. All you have to do is shift your perspective on AI so that it’s more than just about speed and efficiency gains; it’s about giving your teams a power-up that will enable them to accomplish things you haven’t yet imagined.
