The Dawn of 'Out Skills'
How generative AI will reshape the professional landscape ahead.
In the era of generative AI, one claim stands out: "If AI won't replace humans, humans who utilize AI will replace those who don't." This statement encapsulates a crucial truth about AI's transformative impact. However, its nuances and practical implications are often misunderstood or underestimated, highlighting the complexity and potential challenges of integrating AI into our daily lives.
Hard skills, soft skills...
The job market traditionally values technical skills, but in the context of a technological big bang, these "hard skills" quickly become obsolete, typically within five years for IT. However, despite their transience and the necessity of lifelong learning, these skills remain essential for effectively leveraging generative AI models. Indeed, the quality of responses largely depends on the user's ability to ask relevant questions and critically evaluate the information received, thereby enriching the analysis and understanding of the data produced by AI.
Meanwhile, soft skills continue to evolve and diversify, ranging from "contrarian skills" that eloquently celebrate our contradictions and authenticity, to "passion skills" that delve into the depths of human emotion, transcending codifiable norms. These interpersonal skills prove to be valuable assets as they embody inherently human traits that AI cannot, or hardly, replicate.
Today, I propose adding a third set to our arsenal, which I call "Out Skills." Why this term? Because "out" implies an externalization or extension of our own capabilities, representing a way to optimize and enhance our skills through intelligent assistants. These assistants, personalized and designed to seamlessly integrate into our workflows, enable us to expand our reach and leverage our knowledge and expertise in entirely new ways.
New Models to Invent
The concept of augmented humans goes far beyond the ability to efficiently prompt a Large Language Model (LLM). Moreover, the current LLMs are not the ultimate solution. While impressive at first glance, these tools are often somewhat superficial and often fall short of the deep expertise found in leading companies in their sectors. Additionally, relying on the same model risks leading to uniformity in the generated content since everyone draws from the same sources.
Furthermore, recent lawsuits filed against LLM operators like OpenAI and Microsoft by major American publishers for unauthorized use of content highlight an imminent danger: the potential loss of access to high-quality data. This would exacerbate the issue of uniformity and lead to a decline in the quality of generated content.
In this context, the augmented human doesn't just use technology; they create with it. With technologies like OpenAI's personalized GPTs or Google's Gemini Gems, it is now possible to design custom assistants using specific data sets. Simultaneously, Google and Microsoft are already working on developing virtual teams. However, this is just the first step.
Many everyday uses of AI will soon rely on cheaper, often local models rather than the most advanced and expensive ones. Companies that succeed with AI will radically transform their workflows through innovative interfaces and the effective use of personalized data, refined by humans. These assistants, powered by our “out skills,” will thus become extensions of our intellect, redefining the contours of our professional practices.
A Hypothetical Use Case
Let's envision a scenario where you're an investor in a venture capital fund specializing in greentech. Every year, you sift through a thousand pitch decks and engage with a hundred entrepreneurs. From this pool, you decide to invest in only ten startups, constituting a mere 1% of the initial proposals. Out of these investments, only two or three startups achieve significant success—yet they substantially bolster your portfolio's performance despite numerous setbacks.
Now, consider the prospect of creating a personalized AI agent tailored to meticulously analyze your fund's specific data. This tool, fueled by your analyses, personal notes, conversations, expert insights, and project feedback, could discern potential signs of success or failure right from the initial assessment. As a vital member of your team, this AI, through automated monitoring scenarios, wouldn't just monitor your funded startups but also scrutinize those not selected, uncovering previously overlooked opportunities and proposing investment strategies grounded in market trend analyses.
This raises the question: who really owns this AI—the fund or the expert who configured and trained it? Can there be a collective AI for the company and individual AIs for each employee? If this expert decides to change companies, taking this sophisticated tool and their acquired expertise with them, they would gain a significant competitive advantage. This prompts inquiries about intellectual property and professional mobility in the era of augmented AI. Moreover, if someone monetizes their skills and digital alter egos, do they remain an individual, or have they evolved into a form of agency in their own right?
Finally Immortal?
Many unanswered questions, indeed. However, it's hard to argue against the notion that if AI won't replace humans, those who create their AI (more than just using it) will surpass – even replace, yes – those who choose to go it alone. After all, it's all about teamwork, right?
Recently, media Every declared that the knowledge economy would transition into the allocation economy, turning each of us into a manager. The emphasis now lies not on possessing and creating knowledge but on efficiently allocating it to... another self? Thus, we wouldn't just be managers; we'd become "momagers" (enjoy the pun ;). Moreover, those who understand the value of their knowledge also possess the ability to cultivate and profit from it... even when they're not present.
In a world where time, inherently limited, once dictated the traditional rules of work, our digital extensions could allow us to transcend physical and temporal limits. This advancement prompts us to ponder: immortality, a secular dream once sought through potions and rituals, now seems attainable through our digital doubles. Living forever? It's now a tangible possibility. But at what cost?
MD
P.S. If you’re searching for a unique and meaningful gift, take a look at this.