How should humans really work with artificial intelligence? #370

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James Taylor (00:00) In this episode of the SuperCreativity Podcast, we'll explore how you and your team can practically partner with artificial intelligence by choosing between two very distinct models of creative collaboration, the centaur and the cyborg. Now think about recent breakthroughs in science. For example, Google's alpha fold. For over half a century, scientists struggled to predict how proteins fold into 3D shape. And this was a a puzzle that was essential to solve to understand how to do drug discovery better, how to cure diseases. But the problem is the possibilities were almost infinite, far beyond the human capacity to map. Just think about all these different structures. But by using AI to crack the code, a task one once thought that would take decades was actually completed in a few months. But Alpha Fold wasn't machine only or human only. It was an orchestration. Human scientists provided the questions, the vision and the judgment, while the AI provided the scale and the speed. And together, they produced a breakthrough that neither could have achieved alone. And this is the heart of what I'm talking about in my new book, SuperCreativity, Accelerating Innovation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Because I believe that the future is not about machines replacing us. It's about a partnership, a collaboration, where humans and AI each bring their unique strengths to the table. In fact, a recent Harvard Business School study explored this idea and identified two high-performing groups that are using AI today. We call them Centaurs and Cyborgs. So first we have what we call the Centaur. It's like that mythical creature, you know, with a... a human head and a horse's body. Centaurs divide labor though up strategically when it comes to artificial intelligence. So someone that's operating like a centaur, they delegate specific subtasks to the AI, like research, drafting or data analysis, while focusing their own energy and that of their team on the parts that require human judgment, human intuition and ethics. This model works brilliantly in fields like law, medicine, or consulting, where human accountability is paramount. So often we see these centaurs operating like a manager, deciding what it's going to give to the AIs to do and what it's going to give to itself or the other humans on the team to do as well. But that's not the only type of human AI collaboration. Then we have another type called cyborgs. So cyborgs don't just delegate, they integrate. Someone that operates like a cyborg is intertwining their work with the machine, constantly molding, checking, and refining the AI outputs in a seamless loop. For someone that works like a cyborg, the AI is an expression of their own thinking process. This approach thrives in areas like design, R &D, storytelling, engineering, where rapid iteration leads to breakthroughs. A new research from Harvard University is also clear. individuals and teams who work with AI teammates report higher levels of happiness, fulfilment and the quality of their work. Because done well, it frees us up from the drudgery, lets us focus on the parts of our craft, our mastery, that actually bring meaning to us as humans. So as a leader, you have a choice to make. Do you want your people working like... Centaurs selectively using AI to free up their human strengths and those of their team. Or maybe more of them are operating like cyborgs, embedding technology into every step of the creative process. It's almost like that guitarist that has a guitar, like the guitar becomes part of who they are. That's what someone operating like a cyborg is actually doing. In truth, the future will see us alternate between these two ways of creatively collaborating with AI. The Centaur mindset operates more like your traditional manager or general manager, while the cyborg mindset is when you are doing more individual or technical work. So here's a little task for you this week to experiment with these two different ways of working with artificial intelligence. On your next project, try the Centaur approach. Give the AI a clearly defined task and see how it handles the of the horse work of doing. how it divides up the tasks between yourself and what the AI is going to do. Then try being more like a cyborg. Keep the AI open while you work. it as a ⁓ live partner, a collaborative sparring partner, if you will. The future of creativity doesn't belong to humans or machines working alone. It belongs to those who can work together, both with other colleagues, other partners, peers, clients, customers, but also... with different forms of artificial intelligence and robotics. To learn more about orchestrating these super creative teams, you can order my new book, SuperCreativity, Accelerating Innovation in the Age of AI. And you can order that on my website, jamestaylor.me or wherever you prefer to buy your books. Super creativity is your field guide to thriving in the age of AI. Thanks for watching.