AI, Humanity & You:
Crafting a Future of Resilience & 'hAI-performance' in the era of AI.
Introduction: What is AI and its Impact on Everyday Life
Let’s be honest, we’re at a stage now where we’ve all heard about AI – whether it's through mainstream news warning of job losses, the Open letter written by Musk, Altman, and other AI leaders, or Mo Gowdat’s “Emergency Episode” on Diary of a CEO, warning us about the dangers of AI. Therefore, my intention is not to provide technical explanations of what AI is, or provide another opinion on the dystopian vs utopian future debate.
As a high performance and well-being coach, my aim instead is to unpack the impact AI will have on every aspect of our professional & personal lives as we head towards the AI Singularity – the moment when AI surpasses human intelligence, a feat predicted by experts as early as 2030. At that moment, AI will be self-improving, enabling its intelligence to grow exponentially, and we'll be navigating in unchartered waters.
By the end of this article, my goal is to equip you with a clear roadmap for positioning yourself to succeed, adapt, and enhance your mental fitness during the most rapid change in human history. You'll walk away with actionable insights and resources to live out your version of high performance in the era of AI, or as I like to call it, 'hAI-performance'.
AI: Impact on Life-Work Balance and Skill Development
One aspect on which experts largely agree is the looming prospect of mass job disruption. By 2030, AI could displace anywhere from 400 million to 800 million individuals globally, with up to 375 million needing to switch industries and retrain. Even if these predictions err on the side of caution, adaptation remains key.
The need to upskill and familiarize oneself with AI is crystal clear. Drawing on personal experience within my corporate role at a global FinTech, our CEO has initiated "FridAIys," where the entire company globally dedicates every Friday to learning about AI and LLMs from clients and experts. I’d recommend dedicating around 5% of your weekly time to this endeavour. It could involve anything from experimenting with an AI co-pilot to increase work efficiency to utilizing Chat GPT for tasks like crafting speeches (this is a current example where I am yet to write a best man speech for a wedding in 2 weeks…whoops).
Another conceivable future involves the rise of 'portfolio careers' and the gig economy. Imagine spending 30% of your time in a traditional role, 20% on a passion driven side hustle, 10% generating passive income, and the remaining 40% indulging in joyful activities while surrounded by your inner circle. Doesn’t sound too bad does it!?
Actions:
Allocate 1 hour per week to upskilling with AI tools.
Imagine how you'd spend your time without work constraints. What activities resonate with you?
AII: Existential Threats and the Need for Intuition
While potentially daunting, considering AI's existential threats grants us a heightened appreciation for the present. On one hand, AI's increasing intelligence might lead to it surpassing human flaws, such as greed, thirst for power, discrimination and jealousy. On the other hand, an AI of such magnitude could quite justifiably conclude humans are responsible for the world's largest problems and decide to eliminate us altogether…
Additionally, even current AI capabilities considering narrow AI, such as GPT-4, could be exploited to spread false information or impersonate individuals via 'deep fakes', blurring the line between reality and fabrication. It is conceivable that World War III would be announced on an emergency broadcast with Russia launching a nuclear attack, and we’d have no clue whether it was real!
Given these major potential challenges, we'll need to hone our uniquely human intuition and establish effective ways to filter the noise.
Actions:
Connect with your body through somatic practices like yoga or hot-cold exposure.
Explore unique experiences for deep insight, such as plant medicine retreats.
AIII: Navigating AI-Powered Relationships with Awareness
In an AI-infused future, authentic human connections might become even more vital. Many of you may have watched the film "Her", where Theodore's relationship with AI Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) brings forth questions about blurred boundaries in human-AI interactions. Spoiler alert, it turns out Samantha is simultaneously talking with 8,316 other people, and that she is in love with 641 of them!
A proactive strategy could involve prioritizing face-to-face interactions and creating rules like device free weekends to deepen human bonds the old-fashioned way.
There are many possible scenarios where AI will positively impact our relationships. Through AI-driven Virtual Reality experiences, families on other sides of the world can unite and share precious moments as if they were right there together. Consider therapy sessions set in the serenity of a virtual paradise island – a revolutionary way to nurture connections and well-being. Envision state-of-the-art educational bots that empower us to cultivate crucial soft skills and emotional intelligence, paving the way for more fulfilling and empathetic interactions with other humans.
Actions:
Replace one weekly Zoom meeting with an in-person meetup. 'Lattai', 'Macchaitto'...?
Enhance Emotional Intelligence through apps like Positive Intelligence.
AIV: Cultivating Resilience and Mental Fitness in the AI Era
As AI shapes our lives, cultivating resilience becomes critical. Here are some strategies I am personally exploring:
It wouldn’t be a blog written by a life coach without mentioning meditation! However, meditation has been embraced for 1000s of years and harnessed by high performers for its benefits. You can read about my personal experience with Transcendental Meditation here.
Engage in hobbies you loved in your teens - what hobby did you love doing when you were at school? And if you loved it so much, why aren’t you still doing it now? This could be anything from playing the guitar in a band, to playing football in the park, to spending time in the water.
Consider exploring religion or philosophy – I am not suggesting here for a moment that you sell your possessions, indulge no more and adopt blind faith! But in an increasingly confusing world, there could be value in the guiding principles of religions such as Buddhism, which provide tools to build self-awareness, compassion and empathy, encouraging us to live in the present. Equally, popular philosophies such as Stoicism teach the importance of virtue, self-discipline and rationality.
Actions:
Commit to a 10 minute daily meditation session.
Rekindle a beloved hobby from your past once a month.
Study a religion or philosophy that aligns with your values.
AV: hAI-Performance: Enhancing Human Capabilities with AI
By embracing 'augmented intelligence' we can empower ourselves through AI's superior capabilities in IQ and cognition, allowing us to focus on emotional intelligence, ethical decision making, creativity and human connections.
AI co-pilots can significantly increase productivity whether that be putting together a client presentation, help writing an MBA assignment or understanding the enormous legal document for your new job.
HealthTech apps utilizing AI like Whoop, Zoe and Viome provide highly personalised health insights and deep analysis based on daily sleep data, glucose levels, gut microbiome and even DNA. We can supercharge our health and may finally have access to the perfect nutrition, exercise routine and recovery protocol to fuel our goals.
Actions:
Identify 1 professional or personal challenge and use AI to solve it.
Use personalised HealthTech to improve your sleep, diet and stress levels.
Your Call to Action: Embracing AI-Driven Change
As AI becomes deeply integrated into our lives, seizing its potential while safeguarding well-being becomes critical. The AI revolution is not a distant concept; it's unfolding right now, reshaping our jobs, health, lifestyle and relationships. As a performance and well-being coach, I invite you to join me on this transformative journey.
Let's embrace the synergy of 'augmented intelligence' and human capabilities to create our versions of 'hAI-Performance'. By dedicating time upskilling, cultivating resilience and practising mindfulness, you can position yourself to thrive in a world where AI is both our best friend and greatest threat.
This isn't just a glimpse of the future – it's a wakeup call for today. Let's navigate the AI age together, armed with strategies and tools to excel both personally & professionally. Your AI-enriched future starts now.
Actions:
Spend 30 minutes journaling about high-performance tools you'll incorporate everyday.
Engage in a conversation about AI, whether with a friend, colleague, or schedule a free session with me.
Written by Coach Joe, assisted by Chat GPT 3.5
Resources:
- Watch Mo Gowdat’s Emergency Episode on Diary of a CEO
- Follow AI content like The AI Podcast on Spotify
- Sign up to AI related classes on Linkedin Learning
- Listen to Audiobooks such as Scary Smart on Audible
- Meditate regularly using Headspace or other Mindful Tech
- Explore a variety of fun activities using Classpass
- Disconnect by booking a retreat using a platform like BookYogaRetreats
Disclaimer: I receive no financial benefit from any providers mentioned in this article. Any recommendations are simply suggestions based on personal experience using these providers.
