ChatGPT (the workhorse), Claude (the writer, developer and analyst), Perplexity (the researcher), MidJourney (the designer).
Sound like characters from the 1949 board game, Clue? Hopefully, the game and the likes of Professor Plum, Miss Scarlett, Colonel Mustard and Mrs. Peacock are familiar to most readers.
They each have personas of their own, as do the Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools listed above to which Fort Lewis College Katz Endowed Professor Tom Miaskiewicz, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing and director of the FLC AI Institute, has been introducing local and regional business and community members.
The FLC Center for Innovation hosted Miaskiewicz for a series of AI workshops this fall, which continued last Friday to a sold out audience of 400 at the inaugural Four Corners AI Conference, “Our Journey Begins Here,” co-organized by FLC and the La Plata Economic Development Alliance.
What’s striking about AI is how quickly a Google search produces an “AI Overview,” the information summary one will notice appears at the top of Google searches these days.
The date Clue was created? The characters? No problem. Generative AI, which Google labels as “experimental,” generates in seconds what would previously have been a time-consuming research endeavor, or one forsaken altogether.
Although efficiency is at the top of the list of AI benefits, a variety of other applications, at a variety of levels, and across industries, were presented.
Keynote speaker Nichole Sterling, CEO of My Town AI and co-founder of Women Defining AI, talked about AI’s transformative potential in how AI can be used to solve problems in affordable housing, education and business, for example, at the same time creating new ones around ethics, equity and bias.
Tommy Crosby, economic opportunity manager for the city of Durango, described how he hopes a custom GPT Planner can help decipher technical land-use code to help property owners understand what can be done with a specific parcel, how long it will take and the cost to develop, exponentially increasing land use planning efficiencies, one of the main complaints of landowners attempting to work with local government planning departments.
Just like other technologies have displaced jobs – think elevator operators and travel agents – they’ve also created them, albeit very specialized. The rate of change with AI is happening incredibly quickly.
McKinsey & Co., a multinational strategy and management consulting group, reports that STEM and health care jobs will be on the rise thanks to AI, and entry-level jobs will be hit hardest. Think of the decline in bank teller jobs when ATMs came online, however some of those positions transitioned to more customer service roles.
It’s a bit of wait and see with AI. Though, what Sterling described as “power skills” will become increasingly important. Things like resilience, adaptability, grit, problem-solving and critical thinking.
What everyone agreed on is how important training in AI will be for jobseekers industrywide. Comparing two people with equal experience and education, the one with AI training would be ranked higher.
During a video she played of an AI-generated image resembling and sounding like Sterling, she also imparted some words of caution. As with any powerful tool, it can, has and will be misused. It is imperative to learn how to protect and educate oneself and loved ones.
Miaskiewicz struck a similar tone saying, “AI is exciting, but it’s also unsettling. It’s important to understand its capabilities and limitations so we can use it responsibly.”
Sterling and others’ main message? AI is about the people who are developing and also using it. AI is enabling more of us to solve our own problems, so use it and experiment and see where you land.
