How We Can Use AI To Become Augmented Professionals

In the collective imagination, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often associated with a future in which human beings will be rendered obsolete. In this scenario, machines will be so intelligent and efficient that our sole task will be to sit on the couch and watch them work for us.

But what if it were the other way around? What if AI, far from replacing us, could make us better professionals? This more hopeful scenario gives rise to the idea of the augmented professional: humans empowered by technology, capable of achieving unprecedented levels of productivity, efficiency, and creativity.

What Does AI’s Impact on Professional Activity Depend On?

To understand the impact of AI, we must first categorize human activities. One way to summarize them is through a matrix. On the one hand, we can distinguish between physical activities (such as playing sports) and cognitive ones (drawing, thinking, creating, etc.). On the other, we find routine activities (such as brushing our teeth) and non-routine ones (novel endeavors or things that we repeat but with significant variations, such as writing this article, which will never be identical to any other). Based on these categories, we can identify four spaces in which human activity is concentrated.

How Technology Influences Our Work 

Now let’s try to see how technology has impacted each of these categories.

An initial impact occurred when technology helped mechanize routine (or repetitive) physical tasks. During the first industrial revolution, the advent of the steam engine enabled the creation of looms that replaced many of the manual activities previously performed by humans.

A second impact came with the automation of routine cognitive tasks. Consider the banking industry, for example: microcomputing, the main driver of the third industrial revolution, automated processes such as recording income so it could be viewed from anywhere in real time, issuing and receiving transfers, or checking a payment that had been made.

Up to this point, humanity seemed to have taken these changes in stride. Certainly, those people whose jobs disappeared as a result of these advances would not have experienced it that way, but, in general, this automation was regarded as positive: it offered efficiency, enhanced performance, and improved productivity. And we lived happily because, as a species, we thought we still had the other two parts of the matrix, those corresponding to non-routine physical and cognitive tasks, that is, those reserved for creativity, for thinking, reasoning, and decision-making.

AI and Humans: A Strategic Partnership

The real key does not lie in what AI can do on its own, but in how humans use it according to our level of prior knowledge. Let’s analyze this with a practical example: designing a disruptive innovation program. Imagine we ask someone with no knowledge of innovation or education to prepare, in two minutes, a Disruptive Innovation course for a senior audience consisting of four three-hour sessions. That person could say, “Sure, I can do that in two minutes.” How? By using ChatGPT. And just like that, AI has invaded our comfort zone, the space for creativity, the space for non-routine cognitive tasks that, up to now, we thought were reserved for our intellect.

Now, you’re probably thinking that it’s not that simple. And you’re right. To begin with, if the person doing it has no knowledge of their own, how can they be sure that the answer is the right one and that this really is the best innovation program that can be created?

AI enables decisions to be made and tasks to be executed more quickly and efficiently than a human, remembers everything, and has a greater ability to connect knowledge. But what happens when we use it for something we have no prior knowledge of? Herein lies the answer to the question posed at the start. No, AI is not going to replace us (entirely).

AI as an Ally Depending on Our Level of Expertise

AI can be used on three levels: accessing knowledge, creating, and decision-making. But how it is used depends on where you are starting from (whether or not you have any knowledge of what you will be using it for).

Let’s take our previous example of developing a proposal for a course on Disruptive Innovation.

1.Without prior knowledge:

• Accessing knowledge: If the person developing the course uses AI to access knowledge, they will be learning about something they do not know about. They will need the AI to tell them what sources it has used; otherwise, they will not be able to verify the outcome.
• Creating: If they want to move ahead and create the proposed program, they will surely run into attribution problems, not so much because of copyright issues, but because they will not be able to check and validate the output, since they will lack the knowledge to do so.
• Decision-making: If they need to make decisions, for example, on how to price the proposed course, they will be entering a risk zone, at both the personal and organizational level.

2.With prior knowledge:

• Accessing knowledge: They will be able to enhance their own knowledge and, in case of doubt, will know to look for alternative sources to verify the outcomes.
• Creating: By creating the proposal, and given their prior knowledge, they will be generating high efficiency. They will get past any potential “writer’s block” in a matter of minutes.
• Decision-making: Decision-making is accelerated, creating value as decisions can be made based on known content.

A Future Where AI and Humans Collaborate

AI is moving into territory that we thought was our safe space. But, as in earlier stages, its emergence should not be viewed as a threat, but an opportunity. Although it will allow us to perform tasks much more efficiently and productively, we will certainly continue to need (and quite a bit) the human vector, not only to explain and validate the results, but also because these results increase our ability to do and create.

A professional who understands how to use AI within their field of knowledge becomes an augmented professional, creating a competitive advantage for themselves and their organization. For a given period of time, they will be able to deliver better results than their competitors.

AI is not coming to take our place, but to complement us. It drives us to be more creative, faster, and more efficient. If we learn to work with it, we will be able to lead more strongly in a world where humans and machines empower each other.