When Your New Co-Worker Is A Bot – How AI Can Help You Thrive Now

Knowledge workers are increasingly finding themselves working alongside a new breed of contributors. They’re fast, they’re getting smarter, and they’re downright intimidating.

I’m talking, of course, about AI – ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Guru, to name just a few. They’re writing content, generating images and videos, scheduling our meetings, solving our knowledge management issues – and making us obsolete?

Don’t despair. Much like that up-and-coming junior exec always nipping at your heels, they’re actually here to help you, not hurt you. And there’s no need to take them out for a welcome lunch.

Here’s just a few ways your new digital colleagues can help you and your teams perform at your best:

Automatic elevation

Time to congratulate all of your copy writers – they’re copy editors now. With AI taking the first pass – at endless lines of code, social media campaigns, and complex travel itineraries – many of our most rote tasks are being taken off our plates. With more time to edit, solicit feedback, troubleshoot, and optimize, we can produce a better final product in even less time.

Infinite trainability

One thing chatbots love to do is learn. Systems that are embedded in your existing work environment (like Copilot for Microsoft Office) can be trained to reflect your brand, tone, and norms, allowing them to produce increasingly better outputs. Which means you can spend less and less time editing. Speaking of less...

More balance

With teams always being asked to do more with less, an AI assistant can be the difference between burning the midnight oil and making it to happy hour (or soccer practice). In my experience, there’s rarely a dearth of work to go around. So maybe a mindset shift is in order. Instead of “What is AI going to take away from me?” maybe we need to consider “What can AI free me up to do?”

More creativity

Speaking of which, AI can boost your creativity. A team member once told me that her day was like the old, linear version of Super Mario Bros – dodging mushrooms and kicking turtle shells, which made it impossible to stop and be strategic. By clearing out the busy work – drafting emails, scheduling, sending meeting recaps, etc. – AI gives us back that time to put to more strategic use. Think of it as a power-up.

A new perspective

Let’s face it – we can all get stuck once and a while, and living, breathing thought partners aren’t always at the ready. But you know who is?

While not 100 percent reliable, ChatGPT and others like it can serve up quick answers to questions that have us stuck. A bot is not going to solve your product positioning conundrum, but it may offer a few ideas to get you off the thought treadmill and onto fresh ground.

A final thought: Integration of AI into our day-to-day work isn’t always going to be smooth or positive. One principle my team keeps top of mind is “We are in collaboration – not competition – with AI.” Bots can’t top human judgement, ingenuity, or creativity. If we figure out how to let them do what they do best, we’ll have more time to do what we do best.