AI’s aren’t taking your jobs – fear of change is

Except for the title, this isn’t a soundbite. This is a reflection and a brief moment of calm in all of the ChatGPT noise.

This new technology will undoubtedly change our worlds and change how we do things. We don’t know the true impact and, right now, it could be considered scary looking at what that true impact may be, especially in relation to the world we currently live and work in.

The one key observation I am making right now is that the discussion is how the technology changes how we immediately go about our lives. The potential for the technology to do things which we currently do.

The discussion is not how our collective behaviour is likely to change based on how our needs may change. But that is the more pressing consideration.

The technology may allow us to do something differently but if it doesn’t help us achieve our goals it will become a fad, a passing moment where the future briefly looks like a sci-fi movie.

A lot of the discussion I’ve seen has been centred around the SEO community, and rightly so, this is massive.

This is a ‘Beyonce – Crazy in Love’ moment, the world will never be the same again.

But if we look closer at what search engines do and how behaviour is established we’ll be better placed to understand the possible implication of this technology.

Here are a few scenarios:

1. Buying a product

AI may help inform the buying decision quicker. There will be a need to compare products, features, specifications.

The interface with which we compare is arguably more important than a piece of technology that can throw options at us.

Until we trust our chatbots as advisors the current ecommerce world of search will develop along a similar trajectory.

2. Research

AI technology is incredibly exciting in the world of research to help to collate ideas and discover topics and expertise.

Research is an explorative experience so the current technology can transport you further into the exploration, it can’t help you trust the information and knowledge you gain or make decisions.

3. Informing a process (How to’s)

This feels like an extension from the AI elements of search to date.

There is huge potential for this area of informative search to turn into a more efficient, conversational exchange. If we can develop trust in the technology to help us achieve certain tasks with an interface that doesn’t disrupt too much from our daily lives the technology will be transformative.

The balance will need to be found in delivering value to the content creators to continue to evolve the potential answers otherwise the use of the technology will remain limited.

This is very much the Napster before the Spotify moment. Google has already diluted the value of expert content for certain aspects of search and there is a risk that this will continue.

There are a multitude of scenarios that could be explored but in this brief reflection my most common takeaways are: AI will not take away our creativity, trust in expertise or our need for human connection.

We should feel excited at the prospects this new dawn brings and how it can accelerate our abilities.