AI – The Washing Machine of Our Time
When thinking about how artificial intelligence can
aid self development and professional improvement, you might think of AI
analytics. These are now used in a variety of fields to identify trends in our
behaviour and highlight things that we may need to change or indeed do more of.
The central idea is that AI can tell us more about ourselves and the world
around us. This is a perfectly valid approach for using AI to build our
personal skills and hone our behaviour.
IBMs Watson, Microsofts Cognitive Services and
other such applications are getting more accurate at interpreting our workplace
environment and how we preform[i]. There are now a whole
host of products[ii]
that use AI to intervene directly in our lives to help us be better
professionals and happier people.
However, perhaps there is another, more basic way,
in which AI can drive self improvement and professional development. It could
simply save us time on the mundane, repetitive tasks and thereby free us up to
step off the treadmill and adopt a more reflective, mindful approach to work.
Hans Rosling makes this point brilliantly in his
iconic TED Talk[iii].
He puts together a convincing argument for why the humble washing machine could
be regarded as the greatest invention of the industrial revolution. In his
world, this innovation turned laundry day into a library day. It freed up his
mother to spend more time teaching the family how to read, it gave the opportunity
for her to improve her own knowledge and pass that on to others. As Hans puts
is “Thank you industrialization. Thank you steel mill. Thank you
power station. And thank you chemical processing industry that gave
us time to read books."
The time saving aspects of AI are now integrated into the work
place, particularly for high volume, routine tasks such as responding to email.
Googles Inbox app[iv]
analyses the content of email and suggests pre-typed replies. A new product
called Knowmail monitors
your habits to see which emails you treat as high priority and which ones are
lower. It can then prioritize your inbox to show you the important ones first[v]. Think of the time you
spend on email every day. Getting even a percentage of that time back would
allow you to meditate, self-reflect, read up on a self improvement techniques
or if you work with 110%, engage with your PA. AI can give us not only the how
to improve, but also the when.
Artificial intelligence can save us time in many other contexts
by generating reports, looking up information or scheduling our day[vi]. There many other
examples of AI playing the role of Roslings washing machine. It’s not about
cleaner shirts or faster email. It’s about giving us more time to develop
ourselves, to free us from the daily grind and create the opportunity to
develop skills that can last a lifetime.
