Let’s Start with a Little History
Remember in 2017 when robots developed their own language and Facebook had to shut them down? You could read headlines like ‘Facebook’s Artificial Intelligence Robots Shut Down After They Start Talking to Each Other in Their Own Language’ or ‘Facebook AI Creates Its Own Language in Creepy Preview of Our Potential Future’. When I first heard about that, my first thoughts were that robots are going to take over the world. But wait a minute, before you jump on the Doomsday bandwagon, there are a few things you should consider.
First, it’s important to be careful about what the media tells us. Unfortunately, the goal of most media is not to inform people about what’s happening, but to make money or strengthen relationships. Referring to our car example at the beginning of this course, in the 19th century, the media was partially funded by the horse lobby and therefore created content to manipulate their readers against cars. So take everything you read with a grain of salt, including the content of this discourse. No one knows everything, and as Plato wisely said, ‘I know that I know nothing.’
By the way, CNBC re-reported on Facebook’s AI story and spoke out against media reports, stating that the newspapers were dramatizing the AI research conducted by Facebook and that it was a normal scientific experience. Do I know what is really true? No. But I just wanted to let you know.
Second, it’s important to listen to the skeptics. When we are on the front lines of a new technology like AI, there will always be people who try to talk us out of it. By the way, it’s the same with cryptocurrencies. If I only got a dollar for every person who tried to convince me that all cryptocurrencies are scams, I’d probably be sitting on my own little island in the Caribbean right now. But these people can also be valuable. If we don’t get a dollar for every critic, they can point out potential risks and vulnerabilities that we may not have considered. So instead of ignoring them, we should try to understand what they are concerned about and find out if they are right. That way, we make informed decisions for our businesses.
I have a good friend who I like to talk to, not because he supports me in whatever I do, but because he does the exact opposite on purpose. Having someone who challenges your ideas and viewpoints can be incredibly valuable in the business world and in private life. It helps you look at things from different angles and consider potential risks and vulnerabilities in your plan. That way, you can actively see those risks and maximize your chance of making the right decision. That’s why I think it’s important to have someone in your life who can play the devil’s advocate, not to discourage you, but to get you to think more critically and creatively. And who knows, maybe that person will help you discover new possibilities you never thought were possible.
Now let’s talk about the obvious risks. Every company is different and therefore possesses different risks, but there are some general ones that you should take care of. Over-regulation or no regulation can be a challenge for companies. Finding the right balance between regulation and innovation can affect their growth immensely. Another risk is demotivated employees. Fear of layoffs is a real problem for employees and can lead to demotivation at the workplace. Talk to your employees and be transparent in your communication. Sharing sensitive data with a company like OpenAI can be risky, especially if we don’t know what OpenAI will do with all of our data. Ethical risks also exist. The temptation to use chatGPT for everything can lead to losing the personal touch in the business, resulting in a superficial experience for customers. Therefore, you should always focus on your unique selling proposition (USP) and clear positioning.
Of course, these are just a few examples, but the opportunities presented by AI are at least as great, if not even greater. ChatGPT has the power to save us time, a lot of time. It’s like having five extra employees working for you, five employees who are incredibly well-trained. They may sometimes be wrong, but then again, we humans are wrong sometimes as well, right?
Well, we live in crazy times, don’t we? But let’s expand on that a little bit more. The idea of using chatGPT for yourself personally and your specific tasks is, of course, the first step. But just imagine for a moment how powerful your company or project could be if every one of your employees uses the power of chatGPT. That’s where the true opportunity lies. That’s how you turn a five-person company into a 30-person company, a 10 to a 60, and a hundred to a 600-employee company. Of course, it still depends on what exactly you are doing with your business, but you get the quick math.
In summary, the world of AI is full of risks and opportunities, and it’s up to us to make the most out of it for our businesses. If we are aware of the risks and seize the opportunities, we can use AI to take our businesses to new heights. However, if we use this technology the wrong way, we can dig our own grave with it. By the way, please don’t forget to give us a good review for this course. It will help us very much on our journey to help entrepreneurs and business people in these exciting times. Thank you very much, and see you in the next video!
