Ok, let’s talk about GenAI

The one phrase that summarizes my recent state of mind is unfortunately not original; but as they say, an apt quote is as good as an original remark. Last month, I heard someone repeat a sentence that had been stuck in their head, and now it’s stuck in mine too, because I guarantee every single person who has ever heard about GenAI feels this way.

‘GenAI sucks the oxygen out of the room.’

I have been travelling for work more than usual, and everywhere I go, I’m being bombarded with talk about the boundless potential of GenAI. It sounds a lot like the hype surrounding cryptocurrency, NFTs in 2021 and metaverse in 2022. Yet, this time it feels more pervasive and real than either of those ever were, and it refuses to fade into the background. And for good reason. Despite the intense fatigue associated with the topic of GenAI, I’m not delusional about its potential to change the way we work. Much like the invention of the telephone and the creation of the internet, GenAI will be disruptive. As much as I hate to jump on trends, I will embrace this one, albeit a little later than I should have.

Those who know me well know that despite my interest in the world around me, in many ways, I’m old-school. I still prefer reading physical books over Kindles or audiobooks. I make my to-do lists in a notebook rather than on an app, and no matter what incentive you offer, I won’t install TikTok on my phone. In parallel, appalled by my ever-shrinking attention span and exhaustion with never-ending to-do lists, I’ve been trying to slow my life down instead of hitting the accelerator harder. Adopting GenAI, for some inexplainable reason, feels like the opposite of a tech sabbath and a slow life.

So, where am I now in my GenAI adoption journey? Early.

I’ve used DALL-E to help create logos a year ago, and ChatGPT to answer mundane queries. But I’ve made zero attempts to let GenAI enter my everyday life. After all my travels, however, I’ve resigned to the fact that I either get on board with the trend or get left behind in a dangerous fashion. All of this is a very long-winded way to share that my challenge for the next 30 days is to “make GenAI an everyday part of my life.” Who knows? Maybe the adoption will, in a strange way, enable me on my journey towards a slower life.

I have the advantage that (1) my workplace has multiple internal tools that allow me to integrate GenAI into my work, (2) many kind colleagues have already built apps that fit seamlessly into my tasks, (3) there’s a monthly learning session I can attend, and (4) I can build my own apps easily using the tools mentioned earlier.

Outside of work, Claude (if I were to rebel against OpenAI practices) can help me plan a trip or act as my general assistant. Perplexity can replace my DuckDuckGo (or Google search if you prefer). I am also going to click on Otter.ai and What AI can do today for the first time.

As per usual, my challenge to myself is my challenge to you. You may be way ahead in the journey, or you may have just begun. Either way, given how broad the topic is, there’s always more to learn. Join me for 30 days of working with GenAI every single day – even if it’s just asking it one silly question. Who knows? By the end of it, maybe all we’ll have is advice on eating rocks and adding glue to pizza – all great party conversation. Or we could have really discovered a way to transform our lives. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep returning here to share my discoveries.

P.S: My April challenge is still proving to be a massive challenge, but I’m continuing to work on it.

P.P.S: GenAI also has some great recommendations on getting to know it better via a slightly structured 30-day plan. Try it!

P.P.P.S: Now I’m really going to get out of here.