AI fluency: Working with AI as a collaborator

We build technology to extend our capabilities and we choose to use technology when it makes our work faster, or easier, or better, or more fun, or efficient. Here, a pen. Simple technology we created that affords us the capability to do something that would otherwise be very difficult. Writing things down. That capability in turn extends other capabilities. With the pen, we can capture our thoughts and ideas and share them with others. At its core, technology is a reflection of our humanity because it is built from our humanity and we use technology to extend our value. Now think, if all that comes from a pen, what happens when we create a technology that massively extends our capabilities in every direction and changes the value of our work? How do we use that technology to extend our value? Instead of a pen, what if the technology is a chatbot? How do we do that exactly? The most common things people tell me when they talk about AI are, I don't know where and how to start, and I'm afraid of doing it wrong or of AI doing my job better than me and then taking my job. So let's start there. How do we use AI to extend our value? The simple answer is to start with a task you wish there was an app for. You see, a lot of our work is repetitive tasks where we act as input devices for computers, filling forms, creating and moving files, managing data, and so on. The next time you find yourself performing one of these tasks, open up an AI system and see if you can get it to make the task easier or better yet, do the task for you. Provide the data you have, then describe what you want to happen to that data and provide an example of what it should look like in the end, then send the prompt and see what happens. If it's a simple task, the AI probably solves it immediately. If it's more complex, it may come back to you with clarifying questions. This is the first learning moment. This technology is different from every technology we've had before because instead of stopping or producing errors, it starts a simulated conversation and you can go back and forth with it until you get to a solution. And that triggers the second learning moment. When the AI can't solve your problem and the conversation goes nowhere, simply open a new chat and start again from a fresh slate, bringing with you everything you've learned in the process. Your first step to building AI fluency is to simply use AI for small tasks every day to see what works and what doesn't. And as you do so, share your findings with colleagues and your community by posting examples and learnings and questions in your work chat and on LinkedIn. Start conversations. and look for other people who are on the same learning journey as you.