Curation vs Creation. How will AI and humans play nice at work?
Introduce generative AI into your workplace, and suddenly, everyone’s a boss.
Write me a blog on <topic>, you say to your generative AI assistant. Send an email to < name> about <project name>. Generate an image of <insert description>. Write me a campaign plan to promote <X> over the <insert months> and propose media platforms and frequency. Analyse these <X> reports. And just like that, your assistant creates the written and visual content you need and makes plans and proposals.
Which leaves you where? Feeling a bit out of sorts?
The power of generative AI to rapidly collate and create content from specified data sources is impressive. But, like a magazine editor faced with an influx of new content from a range of sources, it’s essential that you understand and undertake the role of a curator - and then apply knowledge and critical thought to what’s produced. It’s important to recognise that what Microsoft Copilot (our generative AI of choice) creates is, essentially, a first draft, then a second, third and fourth and so on, until you judge it acceptable.
Certainly, with training and refinement (both human and AI), the compliance, quality and accuracy of that first draft will improve – and reduce the gap in time and effort to produce it. However, the onus will always be on you to discern between what’s easy and what’s good.
Why are humans the curators, not the creators?
Simply put, generative AI doesn’t have the ability to make a judgment call between what is good and what isn’t (especially in the case of images). Taste is a subjective sensibility – relying on perception, emotions, imagination, and more. And it’s far too subjective for a variable-based mathematical system like AI.
However, as a human curator, you have ‘taste’ (and no one can take it away from you). You have the power to direct generative AI to create your desired image or content, control the approach, select what you like, and instruct changes - instead of producing it yourself.
So, how will this human/generative AI relationship work at work? Having established that you’re the boss and that Copilot is your busy, creative and always learning assistant, your capability to take on more (challenging and complex) tasks increases. So, your value as an employee and ‘Boss of all things generative AI’ goes up – as should your salary.
While sharing your job with generative AI may seem like an uneasy alliance for now, unlike Mr. Clippy, it won’t be long before you question how you ever did without one another.
If you’d like to find out more about how, where and why Copilot will make the best workmate, please reach out.
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