Augmenting the Machine: AI and the Future of Work

What is the future of human and machine?

We all know. We sense it. We are on the edge of something that will reset the economy. Reset how we work and play. Reset our notion of what is true

And the center of it all is the emerging cognitive capability of the machine (Artificial Intelligence - AI). And its ability to leverage the sensors (just like a human) that allows it to see, hear, touch, read and understand.

The media is teaching us how to fear it. This is nothing new. We have been fearing every tool the species has created for thousands of years. We have a hard time grasping the notion that everything is changing, and we must adapt or die.

So I will be chasing down the ones on the frontline, fearless in their experimentation, challenging the notion of measuring twice, cutting once. Ideas fail when we fear failure. Get it done, get it out, and see what happens.

One such person is Kirill Zubovsky, the founder of a new AI application called SmartyNames. He is a peripatetic gig worker. He is running around the country in a Sprinter Van with two children and his wife. Along the way, he took the generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, and used it to streamline his experience in searching for domain names. We, the entrepreneurs of the world, have had the frustrating experience of looking for a domain name for our business. We think of one, then input it into a search engine hoping we somehow can own it. After going back and forth forever, and then, once found, purchasing it, we then have to develop a logo, a website, content, newsletters, etc.

Kirill just wanted to get the job done and launch. He used the AI app and his coding to streamline the process, or as Drucker would say, the job to be done. Classic ideation leading to innovation and finally to activation.

We have a great conversation that ended up covering everything from the emerging app stores for AI innovators to the innovation process itself. What I come away with is the idea that we can take the current state of the machine and augment it, making it our helper, extending the reach of our creativity and time. Like any tool, it is agnostic. Now it needs people who care deeply about improving our lives to harness it and release it into the world. Like any tool, it will displace old notions of what is true, what is fast, what is good, what is valuable.

Enjoy this great conversation.