Wednesday was all about AI. Bob Wilson hit us with the title of this post "A Fool with a Tool is still a Fool." I thought he would go the other way: "A Fool with a Tool may be a Tool."
The Point is a webinar produced by the team at WorkCompCollege.com. We started it in November 2022, and it is hard to imagine it was that long ago. We have had some great guests, and the focus of this quarterly gathering is to ask the simple questions in life, like "What is the point?
We have addressed some intriguing questions, like "what is the point of workers' recovery," and "the future of whole person recovery management." We touched on AI: "Just How Smart is AI?" That was an eye-opener. But on January 24, 2024, we really dug into the nuts and bolts of AI and got a better understanding of the subject. Bob Wilson and I were joined by Jackie Jackson of the Colorado Division of Workers' Compensation and Jeff Snider, General Manager of P&C at Gradient AI.
Ms. Jackson is studying IA, and focusing on the benefits it could bring to the regulator population. Mr. Snider is living AI, and is involved in both development and deployment. They each brought great perspective to the conversation. As usual, Bob Wilson framed the conversation and the chat room bubbled with thoughts, perspectives, and questions. It was a fantastic foray into what AI means to you.
What did I learn? Well, there is a revolution at hand. We have all heard of the industrial revolution. The time came when hands were replaced by machines. Productivity grew, economies grew, populations grew, and prosperity spread. You hear very few people today lament the implementation of steam engines, the cotton gin, the combine, the telephone, the airplane, and so much we take for granted. We were (most of us) born into a world in which these were ubiquities.
We did not have to adapt to their innovation, disruption, and influence. We needed only to accept them as a part of our world. And Artificial Intelligence will be that for the next generations. The young of today are already taking AI for granted. Some of us old folks are also, but we did not know it perhaps. The point was made that many of the apps on our pocket computers (some call them phones) are AI. Things like the map program and suggested words in our texts are all on an AI foundation. Its been there a while.
The point was made that AI is math. That drew some ire. RosemaryMcKenzie Ferguson (Australian advocate for workers, see The Man or Woman in the Glass (July 2019). I have never met Rosemary, but we have had a pretty good interaction over the years. She brings much to the table. She noted that "math is nothing to do with injured workers. Math is data not humanity." That is a valid criticism. And AI is math. But the two thoughts can co-exist.
The point of the math, as Mr. Snider illuminated, has been with us since the beginning of socialized loss. There is a need to predict, to plan, and to fund loss. For eons, that was done with pencils and personal perceptions. That evolved into computers and personal perceptions. He highlighted the limits of our human recollection and perception. Now comes AI and it is going to (already is) do the math. Not new math, the same old math. But, it will do it with broader recollection, less inherent bias, and greater efficiency.
Well, I noted that this sounds a bit like the assembly line or the production machine of the Industrial Revolution. When machines were created to crank out widgets, that was the end of craftsmen and women hand-making widgets (in truth, you cannot find a good widget anymore. Go ahead try). But, that was the beginning of more affordable widgets for us consumers. A plus. And, it was the beginning of a whole slew of new jobs like machine mechanics and product inspectors. The jobs did not disappear, they merely shifted foci.
One of the commenters, Todd Holt, noted that "it seems AI is a tool in a toolbox." He likened it to a "Stradivarius in the hands of a master musician." He concluded that the "'tool' will not replace the skill, but it does help the master in making a better decision." A great view. That led Bob Wilson back to his point "A fool with a tool is still a fool." That is so true, whether the tool is a chainsaw, an automobile, or an AI.
Mark Pew jumped in with a question on longevity. That was so apropos. Who wants to invest millions in the AI that turns out to be Wordstar, SuperCalc, or Pong? If none of these are familiar to you, each was once dominant for at least one brief, shining moment. Mr. Pew asked, "How quickly do AI solutions become outdated with the rapid evolution of the technology." That, it appears, can be answered with "pretty quickly." Bob Wilson has been using AI a fair bit already and he says that users can expect improvements on a recurring basis as the logic paths and the programming are adjusted and refined.
Ms. Jackson put the demand issue bluntly. She noted that this community is struggling with an exodus of talent. She noted that her struggles persist in the recruiting, training, and motivating of the next generation of employees to manage the complexities that are workers' compensation. She is not alone, see The Donut Hole (February 2023). She hopes that the AI will be the tool that will enable experts to quit making widgets each day and to instead work on interpreting and adjusting the widgets that are made by AI.
It is an exciting time. The perspectives are all worthwhile and influence us. There are potentials for greater efficiency and effectiveness. We must all remain focused on the injured worker and the employer (for whom this whole set of systems was created). We must not fear the future, or hide from the locomotives, airplanes, or robots.
Asked to summarize what us normal folks should do today about AI, the consensus was clear. It is here. the best advice is to focus yourself on learning about it, understanding it, and using it as it is implemented. Study how you may implement it yourself. Evolve through knowledge into the next era of our information revolution age.
Or, you may sit in the corner and text on your flip phone, but if you do you cannot complain that the world passed you by. If you are going to sit on the sidelines and complain, don't be surprised when the coach puts someone else in the game instead of you.
I'm just sayin. Watch the recording here
https://event.webinarjam.com/go/replay/276/lq9k3sr7ty7szlak
