Some Companies Recognize the Obvious: Humans + AI is Best for Productivity
Companies may be realizing that human expertise + AI is a recipe for success
For the last year, we’ve seen companies blaming AI for layoffs, saying that AI would deliver greater productivity and efficiency gains than humans.
This thinking was echoed by leadership and management of AI labs. For example, some said that software engineering was largely solved and that AI would be able to manage many routine coding tasks on its own.
But, as we have seen, the promise of AI’s ability to manage complex tasks autonomously has not matched up with reality. (This doesn’t mean that AI won’t take on a large part of cognitively difficult work, just that it’s going to take a while, or may even be deemed undesirable over time.)
Instead what’s happened is that people started to recognize that when it comes to working with AI:
More does not always equal better
Sometimes slowing down is essential
Thinking carefully about what AI is going to output is vital
Simplifying complex tasks into components is a best practice
Cultivating judgement about what good looks like is essential
it seems that some companies are starting to recognize that human + AI is optimal and are beginning to accelerate hiring, and even re-hire individuals they let go previously. According to the Wall Street Journal:
“Companies ranging from railroad giant CSX to Google parent Alphabet have recently told investors that they plan to hire to meet growth goals or to seize on emerging technologies.”
My belief is that the next big deal when it comes to organizations working with AI
is understanding how to up-skill employees to get the most out of AI. This will require:
Improving understanding of AI’s mechanics (tokens, context, etc.)
Focusing on the daily, micro actions people take with AI (such as how they write prompts, manage context, reduce retries) to improve efficiency and increase task success rates
We’re still in the AI’s early innings. The modest reversal in the prioritizing AI over humans trend is heartening. The next trend to look out for will be efforts to understand how best to ensure humans are working with AI at maximum capability.
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Benefit from These AI Efficiency and Productivity Resources
LLM Whisperer Method: 3-part system helping people understand how to optimize AI micro actions to get the most out of these systems
Understanding and Managing the AI Agent Footprint: Practical guidance on what AI agents install, access and change on devices and workflows and how to manage the AI footprint