Three simple reasons we love all things AI

By Mark Jones

What’s behind our deep fascination with AI?

If there’s one narrative outside geopolitics that matters, it’s without doubt the AI story.

If you’re a business leader, you MUST have a strategy. Thought leaders and speakers like me need an angle - help people understand why it matters. And if you’re in the tech sector, well, let’s stop pretending. Few of us really know what’s going on!

Of course we’re all making it up. Of course we’re excited by its potential. Of course we’re concerned about privacy, security and existential risks. Bad actors love new disruptive tech. They’ve probably seen the same dystopian movies where AI, robots and ‘the system’ take over the world.

I’ve been thinking about all this seriously for at least a year now because I was given homework.

One of the speaker agents I work with reviewed my list of speaking topics over a coffee. We’d finally made time to meet after working remotely for years.

“Storytelling for leadership,” she said, finger on my laptop screen. “Can you talk about that and the role of AI?”

“Sure!” I said. Because that’s always the right answer. Say yes, and figure it out later. Right?

In truth, it’s not like I haven’t been paying attention. The skills and experience from decades as a technology journalist haven’t left me. Once you understand how tech, business and markets intersect, it never leaves you. Forgive the pun, but it rewires your brain.

Turns out it’s not a long bow to draw.

So, what’s my take on AI?

What’s fascinating me right now is that AI isn't following the normal hype cycle. Big data, cloud computing and other tech movements tend to dominate headlines and conference agendas for a year before the next big thing turns up.

AI’s obviously different. We keep coming back for more because there’s always more.

New AI technologies, different applications and use cases. Proper ‘wow’ moments because AI is getting smarter at a mind boggling rate.

But what else is going on? Isn’t there a deeper reason why attention-poor executives and corporate leaders aren’t tired of AI yet?

I’ve got three ideas. Together, think of them as a working hypothesis.

Reason One: We love simplicity

The advent of the Google search bar was a killer breakthrough because it was so simple.

Type some random question into an open, clean website and BAM, lots of links to browse.

Easy.

Same-same with AI, but way-way better. Doing research with AI feels like legal cheating! It’s like you’re finally allowed to be a little bit naughty - it’s a shortcut for our overworked brains.

Daniel Kahneman’s description of our ‘System 1’ brain, the part of our brain that runs on instinct and intuition loves simplicity. It’s deeply satisfied by the stream of digital consciousness that flows from AI tools that lighten our brain power load.

In contrast, ‘System 2’ is that rational part of our brain where we focus deeply on certain tasks that require considered calculations. We don’t stay in this mode very long because it’s mentally exhausting.

I like to illustrate this idea in business storytelling workshops by teaching an idea I dubbed ‘Billboard Thinking.’

If you want to get real cut-through with your idea or your story, you must be able to simplify it down to just a few words.

Practically, the best way to work with complex ideas is to apply the ‘Billboard Thinking Test.’ That is, if you stuck your new idea, or a point you wish to communicate, on a billboard and drove past it at speed, would you get it? If not, keep working on it!

We love AI because it does this simplification work for us instantly.

You can easily summarise a document, find the Golden Thread through a large body of research, or find a few words that neatly capture your ramblings. Truly, it’s glorious!

Reason Two: We love things that go fast

I checked with Google, obviously, and our average attention span is around 8.25 seconds today - LESS THAN THE ATTENTION SPAN OF A GOLDFISH. That’s right people, Goldfish are better than us.

For contrast and dramatic effect, note that back in 2000 (two decades ago) our attention span was apparently 12 seconds.

The point here is simple: we don’t like to wait. We want our tech to go FAST. And there’s no shortage of wow factor when it comes to the speed of AI services.

Not only that, AI itself is growing/morphing/transforming at such a rate we can barely keep up.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been making waves with his AI insights for a little while now. He says AI isn’t “overhyped” - rather it’s “under hyped.”

AI’s ability for self-improvement at scale in the age of agent AI is not well understood.

Have a listen to him on YouTube here: or Instagram here. Recursive self-improvement is a big deal!

Reason Three: We love making stuff up

That is, we’re all creative in one way or another. In fact, there’s a great debate about how AI is changing creativity, innovation and the future of work.

One school of thought argues AI limits our creativity because we don’t dream, wonder idly or spend a decent amount of time exploring a problem. The World Economic Forum published an interesting yarn which says, in part, AI can inhibit creativity because it’s ‘helpful and distracting’.

The other argument says AI is ideal as a complimentary tool.

For example, most businesses are busy creating their own agents to automate daily tasks and refine workflows these days.

One quick story from the business world to illustrate: Visa is working with Microsoft and Open AI to roll out a platform that lets customers outsource shopping tasks to AI agents.

In one practical example, a shopper could ask an AI agent to organise and buy a bouquet of flowers for their mum within defined parameters such as price and location (just don’t tell her you were not that thoughtful!).

Meanwhile, a far less serious example of AI fostering creativity are those videos on Instagram where a parent turns his kid’s sketches into life-like images. Then he goes a step further, animating the pictures as short videos to bring these abstract animals to life, as it were.

I think it’s brilliant! You simply couldn’t recreate this level of spontaneous creative expression unless you were a movie studio with massive budgets.

Looking ahead, optimistically

Simple examples like animated animals, or more complex stories like Visa’s shopping agent, remind me of age-old wisdom. Quite often the best inspiration can be found in industries, cultures or companies outside your own.

Each of the three reasons I’ve outlined above reflect this idea. We can quickly and easily tap into radical, new, left-field ideas from around the world from the comfort of our keyboards.

There’s obviously a lot more to say about all the other amazing things AI can do, or will do in the future.

My point is that we’re hooked. AI is transforming the way we interact with technology, how we get things done, and it’s driven by our insatiable desire for simplicity, speed and creative expression.

Here lies the irony. The biggest tech story the world has ever seen is underpinned by very human desires for progress and discovery. And for that reason alone, this story is only just beginning.

How’s your AI story unfolding?

I’d love to know how you’re using AI at work and home. Ping me here if I can help you share that story with others.

And if you’re looking for a speaker, event host or facilitator who knows a few things about AI and storytelling, let me know!

Here’s a link to my AI keynote: Who’s leading who? I explore the big question - are the machines taking over?

Onwards!

Mark