Reflecting on AI for Work, Lifelong Learning, and Brain Health

As we all navigate the evolving landscape of AI, both personally and professionally, I’ve recently taken a moment to reflect. Amidst the excitement and uncertainty, I'm grappling with fundamental questions that extend beyond AI's capabilities and delve into its role in my life: What should AI be doing? And what shouldn't it be doing? I’m not alone in this; many of us are trying to make sense of this brave new world and how it intersects with our lives. I hope my AI journey offers some insights and encourages you to enrich your own path.

My journey with AI has been a process of discovery, experimentation, and continuous learning. It has also been a process of finding those use cases where AI can offer benefits while being mindful of its limitations – both technical and developmental. By technical, I mean recognizing that a specific AI solution or capability may simply not be capable of achieving the desired output. By developmental, I mean being mindful of using AI for something that, while helpful in the short term, may be a hindrance to one’s personal growth and development. To illustrate, I could order takeout every night because I don't know how to cook. However, investing in learning how to cook would help me develop a new skill set I may find valuable, not to mention less expensive.

One of the most fundamental realizations I've had is that AI should complement, not replace,  human expertise and intuition. While AI can automate a variety of tasks, like drafting emails or summarizing information, the real challenge lies in harnessing AI for work: enhancing the quality of our outputs and professional contributions.

For example, I recently prepared for an annual meeting with a presentation, complete with dozens of slides accompanied by a narrative report filled with insights, tables, and visualized data. In an effort to distill key themes or connections I might be missing, I prompted a range of individual generative AI models, including Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude to synthesize executive summaries. Yet none of the outputs approached what I thought were the key points, and anything “new” these agents produced was inaccurate or unhelpful. I realized that, in this instance, AI required more context than I had the time or inclination to provide- context that incorporates a deeper understanding of my audience, the dynamics of these meetings, and nuanced threads of my knowledge and expertise that are not self-evident.

So, for those who lack the time or experience to train AI models on our unique knowledge and expertise, it might be more practical and beneficial to rely on our own capabilities for certain tasks.

This principle extends to our personal lives as well. I’m a lifelong musician, albeit of the amateur variety. And because I have accumulated many guitars, amplifiers and effects pedals over the years, I decided to learn how these things work, how to service and repair them, and eventually, how to design my own. So, over the past 18 months or so, I’ve discovered AI to be an excellent guide as well as a design partner to get me started with disciplines from circuit design, component layout, and schematic development to learning various electric engineering and CAD programs. I’d estimate I’ve progressed about 50 percent faster than I would have without generative AI at my disposal. AI has enriched a personal hobby - and it has also freed up additional time to pursue other interests.

Beyond work and leisure, AI can play a crucial role in maintaining good brain health, which is increasingly important in an era where life expectancy has trended upward. People working longer, and a workforce comprising multiple generations is likely to grow. This underscores the importance of lifelong learning and creates an opportunity for anybody seeking to remain sharp and engaged at work and at home to use AI to maintain cognitive fitness.

As a practical matter, that could mean asking for 5 or 10 minutes of daily memory or creativity exercises to maintain good brain health. Just as smart watches encourage physical activity, AI can provide mental exercises that keep our minds sharp and engaged, potentially mitigating cognitive decline.

However, it's crucial to remember that AI is a tool, and like any tool, it can be both productive and counter-productive. AI has the potential to hinder the development of expertise and stunt growth if we allow it to simply enable us. The key is to actively harness AI's potential while remaining mindful of both its limitations and establishing our own guardrails.

As you continue to explore AI's potential, consider both the opportunities and the guardrails. By engaging in this process, we can enhance our own experiences and personal growth.