Imagine you’re driving somewhere new for the first time. What do you do? Plug the destination into your Maps app and go. No double checking the directions, no verifying the accuracy of the route because Maps is always right, right?
Well, what if you unexpectedly hit traffic because a bridge just closed? Or worse, what if your phone dies in the middle of the trip and you forgot your charger? You’re now without your North Star that you were blindly following.
AI lays a similar trap. An overreliance on tools that do the work for us can turn our brains into a fried egg. We forget how to put in the work ourselves and the outcome is less than ideal.
This article isn’t intended to say AI is bad. It should just be used in conjunction with human intelligence for optimal results. It’s an aid, not a replacement.
When using AI, here are three ways to prevent your brain from becoming a fried egg:
As intelligent as AI is, it’s not always correct. Those who blindly use AI without double checking sources can wind up relying on misinformation and sharing that with others. Get in the habit of double checking the sources, utilizing a different LLM to for further verification, and doing a good old-fashioned browser search excluding AI-enhanced results. Ask follow-up questions, ask it to reference specific sources, and don’t get lazy with the input. Be specific and thorough in your inquiry.
AI doesn’t have its own point of view. It produces content that is generic, repetitive, rehashed from other sources, and lacking in real human voice. So don’t be the laughingstock for copy and pasting an email drafted by AI to your team. They’ll notice the overuse of dashes and phrases like “in today’s digital landscape.”
Passively relying on AI to create content or deliverables without intervention is causing us to lose our creativity. It makes things less personal and unengaging. AI can be helpful for formatting or providing quick brainstorming ideas, but the final product should be refined with your own knowledge and verbiage.
Don’t be the one who uses AI to create a deliverable but offers no real input on the matter. Instead, use AI with a curious mind. Ask questions about why AI gave you the answer it did to fully understand the concepts it presents. You’ll be in a tough spot walking into a meeting with a shiny, robust presentation you have little understanding of. Again, this is where AI is an aid, not a replacement for original thought. Don’t let AI do all the thinking for you.
The most successful organizations will be the ones using AI the way it’s meant to be used: as a helpful tool. There’s value in creative problem solving, original ideas, and individual points of view. These things are a great asset to your organization and will add more horsepower to the business in the long run.
At Trenegy, we help organizations find realistic AI solutions that help them run more efficiently without sacrificing human intelligence. To chat more about how we can help, email us at info@trenegy.com.
Trenegy is a non-traditional consulting firm based in Houston, Texas.