Last Thursday morning dawned warm and sunny in Toronto, where I live. With not a cloud in sight, the sky unblemished blue, it was the perfect day to sit outside and write my fortnightly LinkedIn newsletter.
But I was feeling very unsettled as Hurricane Beryl had lashed Jamaica the day before. Living in Toronto, I didn’t yet know what had happened and of course was very concerned for my family, friends, clients, and all who live or were visiting Jamaica. I have seen many a tropical storm and hurricane and the terrible devastation that they can bring. The impact can last for months and even years, destroying lives and livelihoods, and bringing social and economic upheaval to the nation. I had already heard about the devastation wrought on islands in the Eastern Caribbean, and knew that the hurricane would have picked up moisture and wind speed on its relentless journey across the Caribbean Sea to Jamaica.
Word from Jamaica was just beginning to trickle in. Kingston had been spared a direct hit, I learned from my brother and Instagram, so I breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking it might not have been so bad for the entire island, I turned my mind to my newsletter.
I was still unsettled and unfocused. But I had a newsletter to write. So I decided to take a shortcut. I searched my blogs for past posts on hurricanes, found one that I liked and plugged it into ChatGPT with the instruction:
I wrote this blog in 2017 after a hurricane in Jamaica. Now, I would like to “refresh” it and make it more current considering Hurricane Beryl that just hit Jamaica. Here’s the blog – can you rewrite it please?
Chat GPT returned within seconds with its suggestion. Elated, I issued a few more prompts, made a few edits and posted. Done is better than perfect, I thought.
Except when done does not feel authentic. The post did not say what was in my heart that day about Hurricane Beryl in particular, and hurricanes in general. It was not me. Nor did it speak to the focus of the newsletter which is to share “Simple, practical insights to help you experience true success”. In my haste to stick to the deadline, I did a disservice to my readers and to myself.
Post-hurricane cleanup is underway. Thankfully, Jamaica was spared a direct hit. Lives were lost, infrastructure severely damaged, homes flooded and roofless, and crops decimated. Resilient Jamaicans are saying “Thank God. It could have been worse”.
Days later, I pause and reflect on this experience and the learning about AI and me, an AI newbie:
- AI, or Artificial Intelligence is just that: artificial, not human. It’s like the difference between plastic flowers and real flowers. No matter how pretty and vibrant the plastic, they will never brim with the life of the real ones.
- AI is a tool for me to choose to use, or not use. And it can be a great tool, offering light-speed and convenience. But I should not be blinded by this – it’s still just a tool, like a hammer that can be used to hammer a nail or kill a person.
- Not everything AI regurgitates should be used, even with follow-up prompts that finetune the output. Too soon and very easily, I can find myself in the proverbial rabbit hole, feeling lost in the darkness and wondering how I got there.
- AI should only be used if/when it helps me with my authentic voice. When I first started using AI, I was fascinated by how well it “caught” my joyful tone. But now, as I view what it’s giving me, I feel the emptiness, and frankly boredom with its responses. What’s missing? The other type of “AI” – Authentic Intelligence.
- To discern the difference between Artificial and Authentic, one needs to tap into a high level of EI – Emotional Intelligence. A bit of self-awareness and self-management last Thursday would have made me stop and think through my options more carefully, including whether I really had to post that day.
AI is here to stay. And yes, it is an amazing TOOL that can magnificently enhance my message, my life and the service I bring to my community. But only when I use if with a high degree of emotional intelligence. Then, AI becomes truly Authentic Intelligence.
As we embrace this brave new world, what are your experiences and learning thus far about AI?
NB: This post was written by hand in my journal. I asked my human team to review and comment and used ChatGPT to generate the headline. That approach feels most authentic to me.
Thanks for sharing Marguerite. We can always depend on you to be true and authentic. Like it or not, we must move with the tide of change, provided of course, we are mindful not to get swept away by it. Remembering as you have emphasised that AI is a TOOL to be carefully chosen and selectively applied, is to ensure that we are not swept away. Not to mention that the change we embrace may well be hindering the change we seek. Reports are that AI has a massive energy consumption and carbon emissions character.
Thanks for your very wise and insightful comments Ann. And for reminding us about the larger impact AI has on our world. We must move boldly and cautiously
Gratefully and joyfully
Marguerite