Assessing AI skills is now my life, and here’s what it taught me

My problem with AI

What I find quite sad is that when a space becomes too noisy, it draws out the signal as well. Not the first or last time this happened. Do you remember what a big deal blockchain was? And NFTs? And the internet!

Among the noise, it takes real deep expertise, critical judgement and most importantly being an original thinker to tell whether something is hot air or has any lasting substance to it. Some technologies did and some didn't. Anyone can tell with hindsight, but very few have the foresight to guess right.

Just like the fact that desire is mimetic, so are most our own opinions. The positive or negative opinions you hold on AI, to a very large extent are shaped by others, without your explicit awareness. Unless you deliberately practice being an original thinker and sharpen those critical thinking skills - and have the self confidence to be okay with being seen as wrong - you will most likely follow the crowds.

You'll be likely to be an AI fan - ignoring the real issues around it, or be an AI sceptic, burrowing your head in the sand around the benefits it brings. This is the bifurcated social discourse with many things. It's easier to pick a side as if you are watching a match, then to have the humility and mindset to be able to appreciate the skills and abilities of your opponent, or to criticise the one you support objectively.

Same is true for sports, politics, public discourse around gender and minorities, immigration, religion and now, of course, for AI.

I have a background in human sciences - I studied the individual mind through psychology and neuroscience and I studied the social mind through sociology and social psychology. I love the balanced perspective this helps me afford, as I can shift seats when looking at a topic and see it through multiple lenses. As such, that's the approach I'm taking with AI. I love it, I fear it, I use it, I am cautious about it.

Love it or hate it. But learn it.

Whatever camp you are in, you would benefit from learning AI. And I’m not talking here about learning about AI, the politics and the economics of it. No, I’m talking about becoming AI literate as a baseline, then getting to AI fluent very soon.

There are multiple dimension of AI Fluency, let me guide you along.

Prompting & Comms
First, you need to be able to communicate with AI well. This is how you get across what you mean and what you want. Talking to an AI is different than talking to a human. As you talk more with it you'll understand how to engage with it better.

Critical Thinking
This is your evaluation and judgement with AI. Also involves your understanding of it's limits.

Technical Understanding
Do you understand AI fundamentals, memory and context, how LLMs work and why they always guess but never actually "know".

Workflow Application
Have you integrated AI into a way of working, can you break down a task into components, can you apply it in the right domain whether that's arranging your social life or finances?

Safety & Responsibility
Can you use AI safely, with correct privacy judgement. Can you set reliable guardrails? Do you understand when and how it can go wrong?

Still early days

Clearly, this is a new day for all of us. I like to say it's still day one with this new technology, in the grand scheme of things. (Well maybe now it's day two, but it's still very early days isn't it?)

I'd love to live in a world where more people understand what they are holding strong opinions about.

What do you think?