“Every morning a man on Linkedin wakes up to find an endless parade of posts about artificial intelligences.
Posts often created by artificial intelligences.
That talk about artificial intelligence.
Full of unicode fonts, formatting and capital letters put in cockamamie like only ChatGPT knows how to do.
Every morning a man on Linkedin wakes up to find new gurus clashing with desperate, worried people: there are those who see AI as the future, those who exploit it for hype and those who are scared to death of it.
It doesn’t matter if you are a guru or not, the important thing is that you write something.”
But today I especially want to talk about those who are terrified of the advent of AI:
“AIs will steal our jobs!”
“AIs will replace professionals!”
OK, if you really think that a 20€ a month software can do better than you… then maybe the problem is not the AI, but your job.
AIs are not virtual slaves nor a danger to be feared: they are tools. Those who use them to make their work efficient grow. Who hopes they will do everything for him? He deserves to close shop.
AI is the new trend, but the problem is still the same
Every era has had its ‘technological monster’.
In the late 1800s, Luddite workers destroyed industrial looms because they feared losing their jobs.
In the 1980s, there were those who said that computers would wipe out employment.
Then it was the turn of the internet.
And today? Today it is panic over artificial intelligence.
The story is always the same: there are those who extol it as the future of humanity, those who demonise it and those who build the business of the moment on it. Experts are popping up like mushrooms, free webinars are multiplying, LinkedIn is an orgy of posts about whatever niche AI was developed in a basement in some remote corner of the world, but which will change the world nevertheless.
But the truth is another: the problem has never been technology. The problem has always been the value you place on your work.
If your only task is to copy-paste texts from one side to the other, or if you write flat, soulless content, then yes, AI can replace you. And in that case you deserve it! But don’t blame the machine: look in the mirror and realise that you weren’t offering anything special before.
Innovations do not erase professionals. They erase those who do not have much to offer.
Amazon: if people are not buying from you, there is a reason
Are you a retailer and complaining that Amazon is stealing your customers? Then tell me this: why would a person come to your shop instead of ordering online with a click? What is your added value, your Unique Value Proposition (to keep those who like Englishisms happy).
“Eh but Amazon has lower prices! And they deliver in one day”.
Perfect. And what do you have to offer?
Amazon did not kill physical shops. It has killed shops without added value.
Why are there realities that, in spite of Amazon, work very well? Because they do not just sell, but offer something that is perceived as value by the customer:
- Personalised experience – A competent salesperson who recommends the right product for your needs.
- Human relations – The direct contact, the familiar face, the trust.
- Immediate service – Do you need something right away? In the shop you find it without waiting for delivery.
- Community and loyalty – An environment where customers feel part of something, not just numbers on a dashboard.
- After-sales and support – Got a problem with the product? Come back and talk to a person, not a chatbot.
If a shop doesn’t offer any of this, Amazon crushes it. But the fault does not lie with Amazon. It is the fault of those who thought they could compete without giving customers a good reason to come back.
Now replace ‘Amazon’ with ‘Artificial Intelligence’. The concept is exactly the same.
AI: tool or substitute? If you think you can be replaced, then you are the problem
Let’s make it simple: AI are not substitutes, they are tools. Just like computers, just like all the software in the world or any other technology introduced in the last decades.
If you use these tools to work better, eliminating repetitive tasks and gaining time to focus on value-added activities, then you are a professional who has understood the game.
If, on the other hand, you use them to make them do everything, just copy-paste results without even checking them, then you are telling the world that your work is worth less than 20 euros a month.
If a piece of software can write for you, create images for you, edit videos for you, make decisions for you… then what are you good for? If your only contribution is to press a button and accept what the AI spits out, you are not a professional, you are a useless middleman.
The difference between a professional and an incompetent? The former uses the AI to improve his work, the latter to hide the fact that he doesn’t know how to do anything of value.
The value is in the knowledge, not the tools
Put an AI in the hands of someone who knows nothing about his craft, and you will get mediocre results.
Put the same AI in the hands of an expert, and you will have value.
Technology amplifies what already exists: it does not create expertise,it does not replace strategic vision, it does not make decisions for you.
AI is useless if you don’t have method, experience and a real capacity for analysis.
A good professional uses them to:
- Eliminate repetitive tasks and free up time for creative and strategic work.
- Increase productivity, without losing control over the end result.
- Collect data, but interpret it with a critical eye, without blindly trusting what the machine spits out.
- Optimise processes, without sacrificing quality.
Efficient yes, lazy no!!!!
Sorry for the many question marks, but it was needed.
Artificial intelligences are seductive. They make you believe that you can do everything in a fraction of the time, without effort.
And here comes the problem: laziness disguised as efficiency.
It is easy to give in to the temptation to let the machine do everything, but that is a huge mistake. Apart from the fact that you can see the difference, but then… how long can it last? How long can you pass off an AI-generated output in 5 minutes as concept work that requires specific skills and commitment? Who are you kidding? In this way you are only fooling yourself.
Being efficient means using AI to save time on repetitive, low value-added activities to REINVEST that time in high value-added activities such as analysis, critical thinking, creativity.
To be lazy is to write a prompt, press enter and copy paste it all into a document for the customer. .
Let me be clear: for me there is no problem. But if in a year’s time this little game no longer works, then don’t complain.
