AI/ML and Generative AI complement each other in work activity. Recent interesting work from UPenn and OpenAI shows that work tasks in various professions can be “exposed”. This means it can be augmented or replaced by either classical AI (AI/ML) or Generative AI (GPTs/LLMs). What I thought as really interesting is that these two technologies don’t overlap each other mostly. The tasks that are repetitive in nature are improved by using AI/ML, while the tasks that require more cognitive or creative work are improved by using Generative AI.

The research indicates that there will be a significant labor impact in cognitive or creative work by these technologies. I think we will begin to see more of this type of research as work begins being reimagined and transformed, and as Gen AI tooling becomes widely adopted.

The Shifting Landscape of Work Skills

As companies being introducing these tools safely to improve the way they work, we are going to have to rethink many aspects of our work life. It is similar to years back, when those who were very good at arithmetic were valued, but great “arithmeticists” lost value with the advent of calculators. Or those with really good handwriting, calligraphy, were less valued for this skill as computers and printers became commonplace. I was going to talk about great telegraphers, but you get the point.

So the nature of being great at creating might become displaced by being great reviewers and editors. Additionally, this change is different. This one is about using cognitive tools that amplify your mental capabilities. And we don’t yet know where this will take us.

One of my favorite stories in psychology research goes something like this. You ask people to remember a list of items that are mentioned to them. And their memory typically is for maybe 7-10 items, which has to do with their short term memory capability. So that’s their recall. But you then teach them a simple “trick” you teach them to combine items. So for example you imagine a dog driving a car (if two of the items were a dog and a car) then suddenly they can remember 15-20 items. In others words this “trick” just improved 2x their ability to remember items.

We are probably on the verge of this “trick” more generally with Gen AI. We don’t yet know what’s on the other side for the way our work life will evolve. What we do know is that this change will transform the way we do work, and we want to lean in to learn and prepare sooner rather than later.

What do you think?