With all the uproar over Artificial Intelligence these last few months, many of us are thinking a lot about just what we will do around The Great Disruption. AI had the fastest adoption rate in history, going from 0 to 100 million users in two months!
I confess, I have used Chat GPT in a limited manner, to pose questions that would require a great deal of time-consuming research. What I have seen so far is that it is helpful, but buyer beware. The GPT stands for generative pre-trained transformer. This means it’s basically a fancy “auto-complete” program that scours the internet for data to use in its response. Since there is a lot of garbage data out there, much of what AI will generate at this point is not only garbage, it’s downright false.
This has vast implications for every one of us and for our societies. Because what AI can’t do is feel—it has no sentience.
Although I consider myself competent in many areas, I do experience breakdowns around technology. I know that I am of the generation that didn’t grow up with the technological wizardry of today’s world. I am uncomfortable with much of it; perhaps this is why I sometimes feel as if I am a “magnet” for meltdowns. I allocate time for projects and find that I end up spending it on “fixing” or managing a technology problem instead. Then I become frustrated and impatient.
How does this apply to leadership?
I must continually remind myself to respond and not react. Because I get frustrated with how much time it takes for me to make all these tools “work” for me (and not the other way around).
First, I see the pattern. Technology and I are not comfortable friends. Whenever something breaks on me, I first need to breathe deeply and calm down my skittish sympathetic nervous system (already on high alert whenever technology fails me).
Here are 5 questions I use to re-shape my mindset –and my actions:
- What is my REAL work? Is the thing I am engaged in “on purpose” with that?
- What can I do about the problem?
- Is there a request I can make of someone else
- Is there a way around it?
- What can I learn (and remember) for the future when this may happen again?
If the above fail, is there a Millenial or Gen X’er nearby???
I realize that I am living in a world in which technology is the mainstay of how much work gets done. Yet how many of us wouldn’t trade in our gadgets for some basic analog equipment that works reliably and easily?
Are our lives actually better, or are we enslaved to our own inventions?
Perhaps I am in the minority of people who ponder these questions. Here’s what I know for sure:
Since technology isn’t going anywhere, the only thing I can change is how I respond to the endless array of “therapeutic irritations” it presents to me.
I invite you to share your experiences and leadership learning around technology here.
To learn more about how you can develop this and other important leadership skills you might not yet know, I hope you’ll check out my new book, “Inner Switch: 7 Timeless Principles to Transform Modern Leadership.” You can purchase it from your favorite online retailer at www.susansfreeman.com.
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