Innovative Leaders shift from command and control to the mindset of the scientist. We are experimenting with AI at the Institute and want to share what we are learning.
According to Bill Gates, here’s What the Age of AI Means for the World. Published by the World Economic Forum in March 2023, “The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone. It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get health care, and communicate with each other. Entire industries will reorient around it. Businesses will distinguish themselves by how well they use it.“
Digital Twins
The team created two versions of a digital twin for Maureen Metcalf. The digital twins are known as MAIreen and Faux Mo. The team had specific goals when creating these digital doubles. MAIreen will replace human Maureen to update serious business videos, thus allowing us to keep our content current, shorten production time, and reduce costs. Faux Mo is our social media AI. She is developing a personality and learning to function in her new role. The team is experimenting with her. You can read more about her evolution in the social media section.
It’s important to note that the team is treating the AI Maureen as a digital companion to perform work, not a replacement. This is a responsible approach, as AI should be seen as a tool to augment human capabilities rather than replace them entirely. You will notice that the creative team specifies which version is the AI version. This transparency is essential, as it helps avoid confusion or misunderstandings about the nature of the content. Following is an example of a video that combines AI Maureen and introduces content created by human Maureen.
Innovative Leadership Essentials: Leading a Hybrid Workforce – Book Draft
The upcoming book synthesizes our last ten books and hundreds of podcasts. AI works as a digital assistant to summarize the prior content. Then, the team reviews the recommendations, refines and edits them, and fact-checks the content. We found that the AI recommendations ranged from 20% accurate to 80%. The writing team treats everything the AI writes as a recommendation. We understand that AI can still “hallucinate” or offer false information. It is our responsibility to ensure accuracy and completeness.
Overall, this experiment was valuable, and we saved time. Since the book’s focus is leading a hybrid workforce, we wanted to experience co-authoring the book with our AI companion. We treated it as a digital “intern” who required detailed instructions and close supervision. With this expectation, the AI performed as we expected. One caution is when we expect our digital companions to perform without close review and oversight. We open ourselves to performance risk and legal risk if our work causes harm to people or organizations because of errors.
Social Media Content Management
Our Team uses multiple AI tools to summarize podcasts and extract the first drafts of blog posts and social media post content. AI works as a digital assistant. The team reviews the recommendations, refines and edits them, and fact-checks the content.
The second, playful digital twin, “Faux Mo,” is used in social media. She was released in May 2023. Over time Faux Mo will learn and grow just as AI is evolving. This digital twin is a social media tool to share how we experiment with AI. If you signed up for our newsletter, you could read more of the inside story about what we are learning through our experiments. For example, we recently decided to have two versions, the serious MAIreen, which replaces the human Maureen in business videos. The other version, Faux Mo, is the AI experiment that learns and grows. We will be testing her in various applications – primarily on social media. We want input from our followers on what is working and what is not. If you want to watch Faux Mo evolve, follow her on her new YouTube channel.