The interruption of AI

When Steve Jobs marketed Apple Computer in the early days, he used the analogy "bicycle for the mind".

The concept that personal computers (then later phones) improve human productivity with software.

Just as a bicycle makes humans more productive in travel, using a Mac loaded with software makes us more productive at work.

So thinking of the late Steve Jobs, I often wonder what he would think about AI.

Because AI is... well... different, as Apple themselves coined the phrase.

AI can do some amazing things. For example, tell us jokes, rewrite text to sound like a pirate, and put a costume on our dog in a picture.

Productive maybe, but useful?

For that answer, there is probably a resounding yes, especially in the world of interruption marketing. Which, if you don't know, includes things like cold email, robot phone calls, and scraping websites for leads. At this moment in time, AI is probably the number one tool... Great, more spam email, isn't that wonderful.

But fair warning, even in interruption marketing, AI is causing even more interruption (maybe disruption is a better word, just playing with words).

People are discovering that any self-proclaimed, AI driven service, can be cloned to save money. How weird is that?

So where is this going?

So far, lots of folks use AI, but not everybody. Here are some major roadblocks I hope we can all care about:

• Not reliable, and tends to make things up
• Distorts fact from fiction, even with audio and images
• Steals content without consent such as books and illustrations
• Harmful to our environment due to high energy and water usage

Outside of environmental concerns, the rest can potentially be solved using a term called guardrails. Which are programic ways to make AI respond ethically and reliably. As it stands, AI is more like a jailbroken phone unfortunately.

Can it help run a business?

Sure, one way to think of AI is as a ginormous database that stores the world's information, or just your own information. Asking questions is like a database query. Use it for research, summaries, and building lists, charts and reports. You can also automate the process on a regular basis if needed. Very handy.

But don't expect it to replace your HR manager or accountant.

That interruption probably won't happen... Even if tech giants are hoping it will.