Fear of the Unknown

Fear.

There’s a lot of fear that surrounds AI.

I’ve always said that true fear stems from a fear of the unknown.

If you know exactly what’s going on at all times, what could scare you?

Unfortunately, that’s not how the world works.

But you do have a choice

You can choose not to explore the unknown. Remain in the dark. Freeze.

Or you can start learning. You can start growing.

The only thing scarier than growing, is where you’ll be in 3 years if you don’t.

In this newsletter, we look at 3 easy to understand ways to view AI.

Your perspective will determine your very next step.

AI is an Equaliser, Fertiliser and a Divider

Fearing the unknown is a choice.

You can choose to avoid and be afraid, or to learn and be free.

Therefore we need to understand AI.

That’s the question so many business, entrepreneurs and professionals are asking themselves.

“How do we make AI understandable?”

First we need to understand our own personal perspectives.

If you look at a tree from the top of a mountain, it looks tiny.

If you stand beneath a great oak tree, it looks mighty.

Perspectives matter.

There are 3 core ways that you can view AI as a beginner.

• An Equaliser.

• A Fertiliser.

• A Divider.

From each of these perspectives, you will be able to see your path clearly.

Maybe you’re firmly rooted in one view.

Maybe you can see the benefits and flaws of all three.

I’ll present each one, and provide steps to progress from that perspective.

The THREE Perspectives of AI

Equaliser

An Equaliser.

This perspective views AI tools as a lever for small teams, individuals and solopreuners.

AI tools can be a fantastic way to level the playing field.

Get more done with less, be 10X as productive in less time.

Take the areas of your work that are least efficient - compared to your other tasks and other companies - and use AI to improve them.

Steps:

• Identify something you’re behind the curve on.

• Break it down into smaller tasks.

• Use AI to equalise your abilities.

Example:

As a small team or an individual, if you’re being contacted a lot, it can take up a significant amount of your time.

Emails, customer service, phone calls e.t.c.

Making these interactions high quality is crucial but at scale it can certainly be challenging.

Larger companies can invest money in customer service, salespeople, receptionists etcetera - you likely don’t have this luxury.

AI email tools already exist.

Microsoft Copilot for example integrates with Outlook to help you manage your emails.

You could invest in this to save you time.

Or as a small team you could set up an AI chatbot on your website.

You could give it access to your FAQs, let it handle simpler customer complaints while you focus on responding to the deeper queries.

Fertiliser

Yep, like the stuff you put on crops.

We’ve got metaphors coming out of our ears today!

AI can be used to skyrocket growth the same way fertiliser can improve the growth of plants.

Pick an area you’re already good at and use AI to become incredible.

Steps:

• Identify the skills that make the biggest difference to your success.

• Which areas of this skill are you weakest in?

• How can AI be used to help?

Example:

For me I know that I can code pretty well, and it’s the lifeblood of my job.

I am however terrible for getting carried away in excitement, coding too quickly and not properly commenting my code.

(For non developers, commenting is just leaving notes next to my code explaining what it does.)

To fix this, every time I’m done with a coding session I ask ChatGPT to look over my work.

It adds comments explaining what the code does, and adheres to all the best practices better than I ever could.

Divider

Finally, the most controversial.

AI will divide.

Success vs Failure.

If you asked someone now if their business uses the internet, they’d look at you like a crazy person.

Of course it does.

The internet created a divide between what is viable, what is unique and what will fail.

That will be the same for AI.

If anything this window of safety that we’re in - where you can still operate without AI integration - is getting smaller each day.

Take advantage of this upcoming divide to distinguish yourself from your competition.

What do you have that no one else does?

If you’re a professional, you have a combination of skills and knowledge that makes you different.

If you’re a team, you’ll have your own processes.

If you’re a company, you’ll have unique data.

Steps:

• Take your uniqueness and combine it with AI.

• Supercharge what makes you different.

• Take advantage of the divide.

Example:

I work as an AI Engineer/Technical Advisor.

I know the skills I already have that I need for this role - python, problem solving and more.

What I don’t know, is what I don’t know!

How do I identify gaps in my knowledge?

I would give ChatGPT a description of my skills and the projects I’m working on.

I would share information on problems I’ve encountered.

ChatGPT would then identify gaps in my knowledge.

I could then also use ChatGPT to draft a learning plan so I can plug these gaps.

This would help me on the path to becoming an SME (Subject Matter Expert) taking advantage of my individual existing skill set.

Become the best you with AI, take advantage of your skill set and stand out as an expert.

Summary:

AI is here whether you like it or not.

But, there’s no need to fear it, as long as you understand it.

There’s many more metaphors and analogies that I could use, and I likely will in time.

For now, these three core perspectives should help you with taking your first steps into using AI productively.

If you want to be on the right side of the AI knowledge gap, you should follow me on X — https://x.com/romancollingeai?s=21&t=Jow7he7yBB4EA5Th-sSbCg

Thanks for your time!

If this is your first time reading, subscribe so we can make your life optim-ai-l.

(P.S. Sorry for the slight delay on this one today people, was on a flight back from Prague at the regular posting time and hadn’t scheduled!)