Charlie Munger (may he RIP) once said on AI: ‘I think old-fashioned intelligence works pretty well’. He was well known to have been sceptical of many things related to AI. Think what you may of him, he was a rather successful businessman who made many good decisions in his life, so I’d be inclined to listen. Reasoning (which is an important aspect of intelligence) and the very closely related skill of communication are two such activities that I would specifically not entrust AI with entirely. Why I say that is laid out in this post and will also be part of a new trend report I am working on: Future of HumAIn Work.

Reasoning

I refer to reasoning as sensemaking and I’ve written about its role many times, most recently in relation to AI: Making sense of SenseMaking – the AI version.

You can see clearly in that post the lines I have drawn between where artificial reasoning ends and human reason should intervene and be used instead.

I’m finding in my use of AI to support my work that there are definitely limitations which is entirely the point. There is good reason why for example, Microsoft has named its use of AI with its Microsoft 365 suite – Copilot.

Merriam-Webster’s definition of Copilot is: “a qualified pilot who assists or relieves the pilot but is not in command“.

You are in command and with reasoning or sensemaking, that makes all the difference.

It adds the nuances, emotion and humanity and elicits the outcomes that often have the most impact, at least at a human response level, if that is what you are after. And let’s be honest, that governs the majority of our pursuits.

If you want a human to respond and feel a certain way, I would argue that you have to have that human touch and its especially the case with communication.

Communication

I have written about The powers and limitations of generative AI in writing and also How to communicate and get what you need from decision makers.

In the latter especially, you will find some formulaic approaches that really work.

These could easily be copied and even improved upon by AI.

But I believe that the true difference will be made by bringing in the human element.

Knowing who you are talking to and bringing empathy and that knowledge to bear in such a way that you connect with the reader/s.

That will make all the difference in the success of your messaging in eliciting the intended response, impact and results.

Especially in a content saturated world that is only going to get worse when it is inundated with AI generated content that is so easy to create and reproduce.