The past 18 months have been an absolute whirlwind in the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI)! I’ve experienced a roller – coaster of emotions, from the excitement of the GPT4 launch, staying up all night to marvel at what OpenAI had achieved, to moments of self – doubt about my role in teaching “data science and Artificial Intelligence” in this rapidly changing landscape.
It was during this chaotic yet dynamic time that I chanced upon the writings of Dr. Ethan Mollick at oneusefulthing.org. His insights have been a guiding light, helping me better understand this new AI – dominated world. When I learned that he was penning a book titled “Co – intelligence: Living and Working with AI,” I didn’t hesitate to pre – order my copy and eagerly awaited its release.
Who is Prof. Ethan Mollick?
Prof. Ethan Mollick is a prominent figure at The Wharton School, where he teaches Entrepreneurship. He is also the Faculty Director and Co – Founder of Wharton Interactive. Notably, he was among the first to integrate chatGPT into his classroom and curriculum. His assignments, such as creating an app and pitching to an AI – VC, are not only innovative but also a testament to his forward – thinking approach. All his classes now have an AI requirement, forcing students to face the new AI – enabled world head – on.
You can subscribe to his articles on Substack at oneusefulthing.org. What I appreciate about his writings is that they are fact – based, well – researched, practical, and easy to follow.
About the Book
This book is centered around living and working in a world where AI is a prominent part of our daily lives. It puts the individual at the core and provides a framework to navigate this new world by the end of the read. It’s like a transformation tool, taking you from a pre – chatGPT version of yourself to a post – chatGPT one. And the best part? You don’t need any coding or technical knowledge to benefit from it.
In a world full of questions about AI’s future, its impact on jobs, privacy, and deepfakes, this book answers many queries about how to learn, live, and survive in this new era. Prof. Mollick deliberately focuses on what an individual can learn from using AI tools, ignoring the ethical aspects for the most part.
The Four Rules of AI
Principle 1: Always invite AI to the table
Prof. Mollick suggests thinking of AI as an alien we must interact with. Since it’s not clear which tasks AI excels at, the best approach is to involve it in every task. Spending about 10 hours with Frontier Models can help in understanding its capabilities better.
Principle 2: Be the Human in the loop
AI can sometimes produce incorrect or made – up outputs. As the current AI is better than average humans but not as good as experts, it’s important to identify our strengths and work with AI on our weaknesses.
Principle 3 – Treat AI like a person
Since LLMs are designed to mimic human outcomes, assigning them human – like roles can enhance the quality of the outputs. For example, asking AI to act as a CMO or a VC when working on relevant tasks.
Principle 4 – The current AI models are the worst AIs we would see for the rest of our life
Similar to what Sam Altman has said, every AI model we use today is already obsolete, with research labs likely testing the next versions.
The book also details the different roles AI can play, such as a person, a creative, a coworker, a tutor, and a coach. For those interested in AI, education, and entrepreneurship like me, these insights are invaluable.
Impact on Education
Dr. Mollick has laid out three profound impacts on education: Homework as we know it is dead. AI will play a huge role in the democratization of education, building on the impact of MOOCs. And new teaching pedagogies need to be developed, as seen in his fun and challenging assignments.
The Future of AI
Dr. Mollick presents four possible scenarios for AI development: The current form being the best (least likely), slow/linear evolution, exponential evolution (which we are currently experiencing), and the emergence of a machine with super – human intelligence or sentience.
Other Thoughts and Open Questions
Some interesting ideas from the book include the short – term nature of prompt engineering, the potential of using AI for creating simulation environments and games, applying Moore’s law to AI development, and building future knowledge portals.
In conclusion, I’m truly grateful to Dr. Mollick for his work. We’ve entered a phase where intelligence evolves daily, and the world will be vastly different in a few years. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book and your takeaways!
