AI Will Not Replace You if You Do This

Discover the creative power of AI collaboration to infuse your human touch and succeed within an evolving job market.

The Rise of AI Technology

When artificial intelligence became viable in business settings, people anticipated it would replace repetitive manual labor jobs. This may have worried factory assembly workers. Indeed, robotics have streamlined automobile assembly, circuit board manufacturing, and product fulfillment.

Something that’s happened since the early 2020s, is the ability for AI to supplement, or possibly replace, creative positions. These are the highly skilled desk or performance art jobs. This includes programming, writing, drawing, painting, photography, acting, and singing.

Have you seen software that converts text to melodic lyrics? Another turns your voice into a professional singer. Some tools convert photos to artwork and others create new art from textual prompts.

Workers emerging from pandemic-induced telecommuting are discovering that their skills are less valuable within the office. With conflicting objectives, employees may protest while employers lay off thousands of skilled workers.

Employers have an interest in profits. A primary way this has historically been achievable is to have many workers with billable hours that exceed wages. Another method has been to invest non-billable hours into research and development. In competitive commerce, the amount of billable hours diminishes.

The Fear of AI Technology

Many workers argue that they will never concede to AI technology because their superior skills are irreplaceable. In a business class at Loyola Marymount University, an instructor emphasized the need to adapt with a poignant illustration. In the early 20th century, if you were a blacksmith making wooden wheels for carriages, would you have adapted to rubber-wheel manufacture? How many of the balkers survived? AI technology is the modern-day rubber wheel.

Successful businesses do not continue something because it’s comfortable. They do it because it's profitable. What if it takes a skilled worker weeks to complete something that can be finished in a few days, or days to complete some that can be done within a few hours? These differences are bringing AI into focus for many executives.

The Capabilities of ChatGPT

Do you envision that an AI robot will replace you sitting at your work desk? In some industries, this may happen. Think of it this way. An 8-year-old child with a 160+ IQ will quickly disprove an argument that he cannot replace adult skills. AI is like a genius child that requires parents to supervise activities.

Did you know that AI can write programming code? It is very adept but can make mistakes without a human to test and critique suggestions.

I sometimes delve into improbable speculation within fictional sci-fi stories. The internet is replete with examples of poor AI examples of writing. I’ve seen two extreme reactions to the use of AI in writing. One camp says it should never become a tool of writers. The other camp uses it improperly with poor results.

While there are concerns about AI potentially replacing creative professionals, it’s important to understand the advantages of using AI as a creative tool. During 2023, I tested ChatGPT regularly to chart its advancement. Its approach to queries in January at version 3.0 shifted dramatically by July with version 3.5. For a subscription, there is even a 4.0 version that is orders of magnitude more efficient. Sticking with the free version, here’s what I notice in GPT-3x for writing.

Early on, you could provide minimal prompts and it would fill your screen with many words on any given topic. It was awesome to see a story manifest itself so quickly. Upon scrutiny, the first iteration often lacked finesse.

A click of the “regenerate” button would present a different approach to the story. This could go on through several iterations. It was as though GPT-3 was guessing at what you want. The latest version functions similarly, but iterations are typically slight variations of the prior one unless you provide specific feedback.

The Use of AI to Keep Your Job

If you’re going to use AI as a writing tool, don’t go gaga over its ability to do all your work for you. Readers will notice a decline in quality, or worse yet, tire of reading what you publish. Embracing AI as a tool can free up time for creatives to focus on more complex and innovative aspects of their projects.

Instead of viewing AI as a competitor, focus on fostering collaboration with AI. It can even be a mentor, pushing you to improve your own skills. Using ChatGPT as a collaborative tool helps if you’re an actual writer aware of grammar and story development. AI text is notoriously verbose and redundant. That’s where your role as a wordsmith comes in handy.

The AI assumption when you paste a story into the message field is that you want ChatGPT to rewrite it, perhaps more concisely. That’s why it’s important to precede it with a prompt explaining the purpose of the text that follows.

One approach to use ChatGPT as a collaborative tool rather than a slave is to pose a question to get relevant facts. You will likely see a combination of paragraph explanations with numbered lists. Do further research elsewhere to verify. Then compose your own story with the information. Now use a prompt asking it to improve your work.

“Without reducing the amount of information in this evocative suspense story, describe scenes in a manner that makes the reader feel he is within the environment…”
“Without rewriting this whimsical sci-fi story, include more adjectives that transport the reader within enchanting environments…”
“Based on the following list of facts, compose a blog article informing parents with children how to cope with fears and mental stresses of possible terrorism at school. Include footnotes to reputable psychological references…”

ChatGPT produces more satisfying information when it bases responses on the sample you provide. Refine with specific critiques such as “convert lists into paragraphs” or “include more quoted dialogue between characters.” You can also ask it to change the verb tense or substitute a male character with a female within a fictional story. For academic writing, you can ask it to critique your work or footnote scholarly references that support the information.

When requesting references “with links,” ChatGPT will provide links to websites, but not verify them. In one of my tests, the articles did exist. However, they were not available within the provided links. The chatbot may even candidly tell you that it cannot access current website links to verify. Therefore, some of the links are either random or outdated.

Creative professionals can leverage AI platforms to refine their writing, artistic style, or performance based on the feedback received. Emphasize the human touch in their creations, appealing to emotions and experiences that AI may not fully comprehend. Instead of AI replacing humans, it enhances human intelligence, amplifying our capabilities and expanding creative boundaries.

So now, let’s return to the fear of AI replacing you, perhaps as a writer in an evolving job market. Is your employer likely to keep someone who embraces AI as a valuable tool or someone who argues that they are irreplaceable?

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Will Generative Technology Replace You?