Research Practicing for 9 September 2024
I don't care about AI, and so can you
Hello!
This is the latest Research Practicing newsletter by Gregg Bernstein. Thank you for subscribing.
I love a good prompt. If there’s anything you’d like to see me cover in a future dispatch, get in touch!
Now here's what's hot off the presses this week at gregg.io:
I don't care about AI, because AI is neither the product nor the solution.
I don’t care about AI. I don’t care that your product has it. I don’t care that you think we’re on the cusp of some huge developments—that the real AI breakthrough is just around the corner.
I’ll go further: I don't think most people care about AI, because “AI” is not a thing to care about. AI is a broad term that covers a whole lot of territory, akin to how a previous generation sweatily appended the terms “net” and “cyber” to everything to signal alignment with a vague conception of "the internet." Nothing furrows my brow and sets off my BS detector faster than seeing “AI-assisted” slapped onto your product’s marketing messaging, because that tells me you're more focused on a buzzword rather than a tangible benefit.
AI is a catchall term that describes a thing in service of another thing. It’s neither the product nor the goal. It's like selling people on the capabilities of plumbing and paper manufacturing when they just want to make a bathroom stop during a road trip after a poorly-planned Taco Bell menu decision. It overlooks the goals (functional restroom, stocked with toilet paper) and desired outcomes (gastrointestinal relief, resumption of travel) in favor of the infrastructure.
I don’t care about AI, but I do care about people:
I care about their problems and how to help them solve them.
I care about their challenges and how to overcome them.
I care about their habits and how to support or change them.
I care about human-centered goals and how to reach them.
If the best way to help people includes AI, great! If not, also great. AI is one potential ingredient in service of a greater, more meaningful thing. The place of AI is in the middle ground between people and their goals. Focus on the humans.
PS. My first draft of this post was an homage to Mazieres and Kohler’s brilliant academic paper, Get me off Your Fucking Mailing List. It went something like this:
I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI. I don’t care about AI.
I’m still not sure which version of this post I like better.
Read the original post on gregg.io
One great link
I'm nearly done with Jer Thorp's Living in Data, and I regret that I didn't pick it up sooner. Thorp goes deep into what—or more accurately, who—data represents, who is omitted, and the long tail of how representation in data and lack thereof impacts our very real engagement with the world around us. Check it out.
Image lifted from https://www.jerthorp.me/living-in-data
One personal update
🎓 I spent the start of the summer studying Behavioral Economics through the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Executive Education program. Most of my projects at work revolve around habits and decisions, and I was excited to broaden my understanding of the factors that influence both. The program was full of thoughtful classmates, and the material and lectures from professor Devin Pope and instructor Stephanie Plunkett were well done. This was a great use of the professional development budget provided by my employer! 🧠
Onward,
Gregg
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