We're walking WINS work, not winners and losers. An overriding fear is that humanity as a whole will be the losers as Super-Human AI-robots-with-no-empathy will take us down.
I mean, it's definitely a possibility. In which case....
😅🤭But seriously, that's a conversation for a different blog.
What we do know is AI is here. It's not coming, it's here. Doubtful? Check out my last blog: 10 fast facts about AI.
What I'd like to quickly highlight is the very immediate impacts we'll be facing from AI in the here and now. Because of course people are worried. We need our jobs to make money and we need money to live. It's a vicious cycle.
Will AI take my job?
The immediate question: How quickly AI will affect my job?
The likely the answer: It probably already is.
There's a difference, however, between AI that is enhancing our jobs and AI that is replacing it. At this brief moment it's looking like enhancement.
This is where the the WINS framework can help us.
The WINS Framework
HBR published the WINS framework to describe the sectors that generative intelligence will transform.
WINS Work is where your tasks and functions are centred on words, images, numbers and sounds.
We call it WINS Work: the places where tasks, functions, possibly your entire company or industry are dependent on the manipulation and interpretation of Words, Images, Numbers, and Sounds (WINS). Heart surgeons and chefs are knowledge workers but not WINS workers. Software programmers, accountants, and marketing professionals are WINS workers. GenAI has the potential to be power tools for WINS work. It can generate new prose, computer code, images, narration, music, and videos as well as ingest and summarize, critique, improve, and reformat almost any manner of document or analysis. Every WINS task, subprocess, and end-to-end process within your enterprise (and in many cases the entire enterprise) should be evaluated for potential leverage with GenAI. HBR article: Where Should Your Company Start with GenAI?
2 considerations:
How much of your cost base is made up of WINS work?
How digitised are your WINS inputs already?
If your job heavily involves words, images, numbers or sounds - be ready for transformational change in the next 3-5 years. You’re in the crucible. Examples:
The more WINS Work your role has the more AI can augment or automate your tasks.
Much of this is due to large language models (LLMs) and other generative AI tools. They haven’t been around for very long, but they’re expected to have far-reaching impacts on the way people do their jobs.
AI tools and capabilities are exponentially increasing and we’ll need to be able to adopt and embrace these enhancements. In summary: Put on the skates, it’s time to be agile.
If you’re in the crucible: understand and embrace GenAI immediately or you’ll be left behind.
If you’re holding a lever: look for opportunities to optimise and gain advantages across your selling, general and administrative functions.
If you’re next in line: look at tasks not currently digitised, and digitise/automate them.
As one CNN reporter put it, It’s not artificial intelligence that’s going to take your job. It’s people who know how to use artificial intelligence who will take your job.
Generative AI is the future of work.
When it comes to AI, we'll all need some personal growth and professional development here - AI training anyone?
Let’s adopt a growth mindset and enjoy the process of learning about how we can use AI to help us.
Have the conversation
Let's not put our head in the sand about this - Generative AI will change the world.
Talk to your team about the WINS work they do now. What work is centred on...words? images? numbers? sounds?
Can AI enhance how you draft, collate and proof your words? Can you use AI tools to create and develop unique images? Can you use this to help you design visuals and spaces? Can AI help you detect things on images? (like medical scans or Google map footage?) Can AI automate your maths / calculations?
These are all questions you and your team can and should be working through today!
Use Generation AI to help you today
Promote divergent thinking.
AI can make associations across different concepts and create new ideas. Try trisociation, ask ChatGPT to play the role of ideator and connect three distinct words.
Challenge expertise bias.
By bringing in weird and wonderful new designs or ideas early on, it can challenge what we think is possible or what we can deliver.
Evaluate ideas.
Ask ChatGPT to consider the pros and cons of your idea.
Help refine ideas.
ChatGPT can sift through data and resources, flesh out concepts and write out descriptions. Of course you’ll need to heavily edit this yourself, but it’s so much easier than starting with a blank sheet!
Take meeting minutes.
Tools like Zoom and Teams have integrated generative AI into their products. Zoom has two great feautures:
Automate other routine tasks.
Do anything over and over? There's an AI tool that can help!
Don't know what tool? Google it! OR OR OR - get in touch and we'll help!
Learning AI is like learning to ride a bike.
By all means, absorb all the theory and research you can! But at some stage you're going to have to sit on a bike and start to pedal. Find out what AI tools are already out there, watch a video or two and then start to test and tinker!
And remember - everyone falls when they're learning to ride a bike. Everyone misprounouces words when they're learning to speak. Everyone makes mistakes using a new tool. Stumble into the unknown, we'll all be 'in the crucible' soon.
PS - that photo is AI made on ChatGPT.
The prompt was: A picture of a purple cartoon person that's falling off a bike.
Interested in discussing AI and the Future of Work more? Get in touch!