Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently observed that AI may even replace CEOs like him. The message was that AI will result in job displacement, and human adaptation will be a necessity. Along these lines, as AI becomes capable of performing more tasks, questions arise about whether humans should learn to do these tasks at all, and whether businesses will continue to hire humans for certain tasks. A prime example is coding, where AI’s demonstrated code-writing prowess is causing some to question whether students should learn to code. This is the wrong argument. The key question is not whether AI will replace humans but rather what force multiplier AI provides for individuals and businesses. While AI skills are necessary now for nearly every job, how valuable these skills become will also depend on how you use them in combination with other knowledge and skills.
An Analogy
Consider the moving walkways at airports. It is true that if you stand on a walkway and do nothing, you will reach the same destination as someone walking by themselves. You may reach the destination before the person walking, depending on how fast they are walking relative to the walkway. But this is not the key measure. The key measure is how much later you will get to the destination if the other person is also on the walkway and walking at the same pace as they were on the ground.
This analogy can also be applied to coding. Yes, it is possible that, with AI, someone with no coding knowledge can create a functioning piece of software. But how much better, faster, more sophisticated, and effective would the software be if it were created by someone using the same AI but using their coding skills and expertise to guide and refine the output? Developer experiences suggest that the gains would be significant.
The AI Force Multiplier
There is now a common saying from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: “AI will not take your job. Someone who knows AI will.” This phrase captures the first element, namely the necessity to understand and leverage AI and AI tools. This is the beginning, comparing AI skills to the lack of AI skills. The force multiplier becomes necessary when comparing two sets of AI skills. My definition of the force multiplier, for an individual or a business, is how much more the said individual or business can achieve when their AI fluency and other skills are combined.
The AI Force Multiplier, as I see it, is not a single numerical value, but rather a combination of various factors, and dependent on whether it is assessed for a business or an individual. For an individual task, it can include factors such as accomplishing a more complex, better quality, more effective, lower cost, faster version, or any combination thereof. For a business, it can include achieving greater ROI, more sales, and capturing new markets, etc.
Who Is The Competition
The key to the force multiplier is recognizing that the competition is not the AI, but rather another individual or business. If you are an individual applying for a job, your competition is another individual. Certainly, if the competitor knows AI and you do not, you are at a disadvantage. But the situation moving forward is more likely to be that all competitors know AI (or claim they do). The question is who can best leverage the AI to deliver value in the role.
Core Non-AI Skills
To understand how one can increase their AI Force Multiplier, let’s revisit the coding example. Why is an AI-fluent skilled developer likely to outperform an AI-fluent newcomer to code? Here are some reasons:
– The skilled developer is likely to provide more specific questions to the AI, resulting in more useful code in even the first iteration.
– Their experience developing software will result in detailed requirements for modularity, testability, and other software best practices.
– If the AI suggests options, they will be in a better position to make selections in the best interests of the business at hand.
– They are likely to know the corporate policies for security, etc., and apply these in the instructions given to the AI.
– They can read the generated code and find issues that the newcomer cannot.
All of these result in a force multiplier combining at least product quality and likely time to market, and possibly safety, just to mention a few.
With this example in mind, what skills should one develop (besides AI) to improve the force multiplier. Here are the key ones:
– Develop the necessary skills for your profession, wherever possible, independently of AI, and also in combination with AI. For example, developers who know how to code will do better at getting AI to code.
– Develop domain knowledge of your industry. Even if AI generates solutions, your domain expertise will likely lead to better ideas and higher-quality outcomes.
– Engage your creativity. AI is amazing at helping flesh out solutions, enabling quick and effective exploration of many ideas in the time it previously took to develop one. The humans and companies that leverage this fact are the ones with a large supply of ideas, driven by experience, skills, domain knowledge, creativity, and passion.
– Hustle. If AI can do a task that previously took an hour in 5 minutes, your force multiplier will depend on how you handle that fact. If you decide to do the same task, now spending 5 minutes, and then do nothing, your force multiplier is low. If you decide to use the other 55 minutes to improve the outcome, do more tasks, or find another problem to solve, your force multiplier increases.
Core AI Skills
It is worth noting that there are many levels to AI fluency, and your force multiplier can also depend on these. Going back to the developer example:
– Practicing developers who are AI-fluent likely know the best AI tools that complement their skills and result in a maximally productive workflow. They likely have their favorite tools.
– If a new tool comes out, they will likely find out from their professional network, perform a quick trial, and decide whether it is worth adding to their toolbox.
Similarly, it is important not just to develop AI fluency but to constantly seek to improve it in ways that are specific to your domain or job role. This will ensure that your non-AI skills and AI skills complement each other for the largest possible force multiplier.
The Bottom Line
The concern that AI will displace jobs is real. However, for an individual or a business, the element most in your control is how you leverage AI to compete and win against other individuals or businesses. As AI capabilities improve, professional and business success requires that you compete aggressively for possibly fewer and definitely changing opportunities. Assess your AI Force Multiplier and find ways to improve it.
