From Synthetic CEOs to AI-Powered Efficiency
How People are Harnessing AI at Work
Introduction This past Saturday, while jogging through my 10k run and tuning into one of my favorite podcasts, Hard Fork, I was fascinated and inspired by how their listeners use AI at work. From crafting synthetic CEOs to automating every step of the job, these stories give me a small set of examples of the world of AI-powered productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. These examples also show how creative we are and how we always find ways to make our lives easier and better as innovative technologies emerge.
Let me be clear: the use cases I am about to share are not my own. They come straight from Hard Fork's listeners. However, as someone who has always been fascinated by the intersection of technology and business, I want to share these stories as I find them interesting. Even some of them give me a few ideas for my own AI use cases.
The Rise of the Synthetic CEO First, let us talk about the rise of the synthetic CEO. Picture this: you are a creative agency, and your client's CEO is hard to pin down for feedback. What do you do? If you are Nail Communications in Providence, you create an AI version of the CEO. The agency created a virtual representation of the CEO who could provide opinions on their work by training a custom AI model with the CEO's speeches and opinion posts. The goal? To keep projects moving forward and avoid delays caused by the CEO's packed schedule. I have to say, this one is my favorite so far!
Automating Every Step of the Job Next, let us explore how AI is automating every step of the job. For one Hard Fork listener, AI has become the ultimate productivity hack. By incorporating AI into every step of their creative process, they have increased their output from 5-7 video scripts daily to 25 clips in just three hours. Their efficiency and effectiveness have skyrocketed, proving that AI can be a powerful ally for creatives.
AI as a Conflict Mediator AI is not just about boosting productivity; it can also help navigate the complex world of workplace relationships. One listener built a GPT bot that offers personalized advice on navigating difficult situations with colleagues. Using data from personality assessments, the bot provides tailored suggestions on communicating effectively with individuals. To be honest, I found this both interesting and a little scary all at once—if someone gets a hold of my personality assessment, they could create a bot tailored to my personality traits!
Streamlining the Tedious Tasks of Teaching Finally, let us look at how AI is streamlining tedious teaching tasks. One listener, an educator, has been using AI to reduce the time spent on writing report card narratives. By leveraging the OpenAI API, they created a tool that generates draft narratives for each student, cutting the time spent on this task from 20-30 to just 2-5 hours. This innovative approach demonstrates how AI can be leveraged to manage repetitive tasks, freeing educators to focus on teaching and engaging with their students.
Conclusion: Embracing AI Responsibly in the Workplace
What I Learned Reflecting on these intriguing stories from Hard Fork listeners, it is clear that AI has transformed how we work, offering substantial benefits in productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness.
The use cases from the podcast were both interesting and entertaining. I especially liked the Synthetic CEO and Conflict Mediator examples. This shows our creativity – we will always find things to do as innovative technology emerges. From a personal perspective, my own use cases are related to knowledge management. I have explored leveraging AI for business innovation through embeddings and answers, which you can read more about here
These advancements also raise important questions about the future of work. The key takeaway is that AI can be a powerful tool for augmenting human creativity and solving complex challenges. Yet, we must use these technologies responsibly and ethically, ensuring that they align with our values and serve the well-being of all stakeholders. It is crucial to approach AI enthusiastically and cautiously, prioritizing transparency, accountability, and fairness in its development and deployment.
What It Means for Employers and Businesses For employers and businesses, embracing AI means creating an environment where employees can leverage AI effectively. Providing the right platforms, resources, and training will empower employees to identify and implement innovative AI solutions that enhance their work. At the same time, clear guidelines and guardrails are necessary to ensure governance, compliance, and ethical use. This includes addressing concerns around job displacement, ensuring that AI augments rather than replaces human workers, and fostering a culture of lifelong learning to help employees adapt to changing roles.
The success of AI in the workplace depends on how we use it. By embracing AI with creativity, curiosity, and care, we can focus on what truly matters – building meaningful relationships, tackling complex challenges, and making a positive impact.
References
Roose, K., & Newton, C. (2024, May 3). "A.I. at Your Jobs + Hank Green Talks TikTok + Deepfake High School". The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/03/podcasts/hard-fork-work-hank-green-deepfake.html
