Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay alongside our Organic Intelligence (OI). In this era of the “Great Replacement” caused by machines, businesses are challenged by the notion that AI will replace jobs - a major concern for job workers. Aspiring entrepreneurs’ concern is different: it’s a challenge of how can we embrace and work with this technology instead of fearing it. Our organic intelligence is a biological system whereas AI is a digital system. AI is the science of making machines smart for the sake of making our lives easier and happier. It is a technology that’s invented by us and must be used and directed by our own innate and organic intelligence.
Underestimating the potential power of AI and what it can do for their business is one of the reasons aspiring entrepreneurs fail. They are conditioned to think linearly. That is, “either/or.” Either to use their brains; that is, their OI; Or, to capitalizing solely on the emerging power of AI and the speed in which it can grow business exponentially and in a short period of time. They think that one should replace the other – either your own OI replaces AI or vice versa. Automation and AI beget speed and efficiency, where OI brings out direction, clarity and effectiveness. It seems no other option but to choose between AI and OI. There should be a better way – a third way.
Our better way is one that gets the best of both worlds: the OI and the AI worlds. This way is called Hybrid Intelligence(HI). This kind of intelligence capitalizes on complementing the strengths of both AI and OI. In other words, HI merges the strengths of both sides and makes their weaknesses irrelevant. Namely, AI is technically supreme: It can be the secret sauce in your business game plan. It helps you brainstorm ideas, analyze your target market’s interests, preferences, and behaviors. With the help of that knowledge, you can tailor your content to what your market wants. The list goes on and on.
Organic Intelligence, on the other hand, excels at the non-technical side, The soft stuff. That’s the part AI is deficient at: the common-sensical part. Creative thinking is what distinguishes OI. Humans can think outside the box and generate out of the box ideas that position businesses properly. AI compensates for the weaknesses of humans such as being expensive, unreliable and getting easily distracted. AI is excellent at reaching millions of people in a very short time as compared to what OI can do.
The merge of AI with OI into what is called HI a three-step framework. The first step is non-technical: I call it developing a whole new mindset. The second stage is acquiring new skills. The third is finding your gift.
Developing a whole new mindset. Owning this won’t be achieved by some magic wand but rather by transforming the way you think. Mindset that believes that if a business to grow and thrive it should be a combination of human intelligence with artificial intelligence. AI won’t be a fact without the initiation of humans. Humans write the lines of code with which AI is developed. Someone has to design the machine’s AI processes, create these machines, operate, and maintain them. To develop this new mindset is to ditch the old one that embraces dichotomy between AI and OI and espouses HI instead. The old and outdated mindset that encouraged one intelligence over the other must be questioned first and let go of before installing the timely, new and integrated mindset.
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The second step is to get good at acquiring new skills in order to master Hybrid Intelligence. Such skills best be called Hybrid skills as they demand mastering technical and non-technical capabilities. The aspiring entrepreneur must develop his technical capabilities such as knowing how to interpret data and use them to make informed decisions. The entrepreneur is not supposed to study coding and do machine learning; still, he has to have an overview about the impact and importance of data science and how it helps him strategize.
Getting good at non-technical capabilities is vital for the aspiring entrepreneur. This is the soft-skill side of business and the centerpiece of his organic intelligence. He got to be competent at developing his leadership competencies. He got to have a vision for his business and where he wants to take his organization; find a mission of how to create and provide value for his customers. Most important of all for the entrepreneur is to develop his character that will undeniably be reflected in his business.
The third step is to find your gift. It’s not that easy process to find out your gift, or to put it in business terms, your edge. You will be torn between the two extreme schools of doing what you love or loving what you do. Again, either/or approach is quite misleading. I propose to prioritize the two not to choose between them. Namely, doing what you love is your joy in life, while loving what you do is the way to make a living. Remember, people got to make a living first. So be it. Start out with loving what you do while working on your why of living – that is doing what you love.
Related: How Developing Your Skills is a Wealth-Generating Asset
Embracing AI helps you to free up time and focus on what you do best and be creative at. Have a look at the different uses of AI and what kind of it can be valuable for your business; Be it, for example, ChatGPT or Zoom or whatever. Choose which technology will be useful for your business. Some businesses use ChatGPT to help generate sales pitches, content, and sales scripts. Others use another technology that suits them better. For example, I found the technology of Zoom to be more valuable for my business in the last three years. Being in the business world for more than 25 years, my edge was to help startup entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses. I found zoom to be the best technology to free up my time that was wasted before in offline sessions with my customers.
Embracing AI, not confronting it, must be at the forefront of every entrepreneur’s mindset. Machine intelligence should be managed and directed by human organic and innate intelligence. To be able to do that, a three-step framework got to be implemented. First, to develop a whole new mindset that embraces both AI and OI. Second, to acquire new skills needed to master the merge of these two entities. Third, is to use the suitable technology that frees up your time to work and develop your edge in business.
