![The AI Journal: Why I’ll Wear The Scarlet Letter[s] of “AI”](https://www.peaknano.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ai-journal-thumbnail.png?length=750&name=ai-journal-thumbnail.png)
As I recently scanned some of my favorite AI feeds, I noticed a trend of labeling people at organizations that use AI with a “Scarlet Letter”. It might make for good clickbait, or make someone feel better to advocate for the human capabilities of writers, editors, graphic artists, video editors, or other skilled persons, but I find it counterproductive. Using AI allows me to accomplish more, faster. So why wouldn’t I use it?
I have no doubt that—if I haven’t done “my part” correctly—those with a keen eye could discern with a high probability when I, or others, use AI for all or part of my work. But issuing a scathing judgment, let alone trying to stop us, is a fool’s errand. So, what now?
You can’t close Pandora’s box. It’s open, and we’re all going to have to get used to it.
There seems to be a cottage industry of people and products focused on determining if AI was used to accomplish a task. At the end of the day, if the job gets done, why does it matter? AI is here to stay, and its use will become ubiquitous. Like every tool, skill, or capability, you need to exercise judgment and editorial control over the final product; however, proving that one can discern when an author used AI feels like a puritanical red herring.
The simple truth is that most writing tasks are not intended to be works of great literature, nor will they be candidates for a Pulitzer Prize. People need readily available, accurate information to make informed decisions (and yes, I agree that human validation is required for this). However, if we can create and connect people to this information faster with AI, we can outperform our competitors and stay ahead of our workload. One of the simple yet harsh truths of marketing (and other business areas)—developing content, building websites, and just about everything else—is that we all have a lower-than-perfect threshold for “good enough” to get the job done.
Like many people, I am “good” in some areas and “challenged” in others. AI helps me, as most people, overcome those challenges more quickly and efficiently. It can’t replace my ideas, narratives, and focus in creating content, video, images, etc., but it can get me there faster, with greater scalability.
Will it ever be as good as the human savants? Absolutely not, but is it good enough for most marketing projects? Yeah, it is, and I can live and profit from that.
One of the reasons I love PowerPoint is that I’m capable of making pretty slides, and I think I can tell a good story. I am bad at writing. My grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling are so poor that I am somewhat surprised I graduated from high school, let alone college. First, it was red squiggly lines that helped with spelling, then double blue lines that helped with grammar, and then there was Grammarly.
Now, AI can help me overcome the worst of my limitations and create even better stories. But not everyone is as enamored with AI as I am; some are downright hostile towards it.
Should you have rules, limits, and guidelines around AI usage? Absolutely. Organizational leaders need to create these to protect intellectual property and maintain security. There are open questions about how AI sources answer queries and create liability. AI output is not always accurate or properly sourced. The use of AI can provide hackers with a treasure trove of information to aid in hacking attempts.
A recent post by Ivan Landabaso highlighted how Zapier expects AI to be used by organizations. This is a great thought starter for considering how to leverage AI in different functional areas. It is in no way a comprehensive list, and it may not be a good fit for your company or team, but it’s a good place to start.
One of my favorite writers—and people—is Karen Walsh (no relation), an attorney and expert in cybersecurity and compliance. She recently published “rules of engagement” for AI usage in her firm, which provide a helpful structure for organizations developing guidelines around data privacy, transparency in AI decision-making, and regularly auditing AI systems to ensure they align with ethical and legal standards.
I use AI for a combination of pragmatism, self-improvement, and, to be fully honest, self-aggrandizement (I want to be an AI disruptor). After all, is better to be an AI disruptor than one who AI disrupts. Ultimately, I believe AI will create more jobs than it replaces, but those jobs will evolve and require new skillsets, just as every major wave of technological innovation has.
When the music stops, I want to be sure that my team, my company, and I have a seat at the table. We want to play the next round in our market. This won’t happen by accident; we need to be proactive and take initiative.
I recommend that you, too, embrace the AI wave—because it can’t be stopped. You, your team, and your company need to become AI-fluent now to be employable and competitive in the future.
AI is not a panacea; it is a tool that can be used to achieve our goals, and those who operate the tool will craft the future. Don’t let AI progress happen around you. Bring it in and control the narrative.
I am not sure what the “AI identifiers” hope to accomplish with their articles and claims, but let them have their fun. AI requires guardrails, but when used within a set of rules, organizations can leverage it effectively for efficiency and scale. And more importantly, without it, they will fall behind.
Some may try to hold back this wave, but frankly, I think that is an ill-conceived strategy and one destined to fail. For the rest of us who need to get work done and stay competitive, for both our jobs and our companies, I will wear the proverbial scarlet letter[s] ‘AI’ and use one of the best new tools in the digital toolbox.
FWIW – This article is primarily a stream of consciousness and self-written. I used Grammarly to try to make it legible.
https://aijourn.com/why-ill-wear-the-scarlet-letters-of-ai/
