Is AI a danger to civilisation or the answer to our prayers?
Here’s an enlightening video from Arthur C Clarke (science author) from 1964, in which he appears to predict the advent of AI: click here.
We can’t read the news or scroll through social media without stumbling upon the subject of AI. Some of content may be seen as scaremongering, whilst some content aims to enlighten us as to its benefits.
So is AI something to be fearful of, or a new development that can improve our productivity?
As part of Swarm Training’s Personal Development programme, we offer monthly workshops to support our learners to become well-rounded professionals.
This month our HR and Recruitment specialist, Teo Apan, delivered a workshop on Personal Branding and Career Guidance. Supported by Marketing Tutor, Sally Walters, we invited discussion from our apprentices on their thoughts about AI.
It would be easy to become deflated that all the effort of learning a new career may be in vain if AI were to replace jobs in the near future.
Instead of focusing on the negative predictions, we encouraged our guests to continue to develop their professional brands; to reflect on their own values; to connect with others. Networking is more important now than ever.
People hire people!
As individual employees we have the ability to build relationships, and listen to the needs of others. We can bring empathy and sensitivity to customer meetings, or management roles. Nurturing these attributes will give organisations a point of difference.
AI is not going away, although legislation is needed to maintain control of the beast we have unleashed.
So, we encourage our learners to embrace new technology. To continually upskill and stay inquisitive. If we don’t, our competitors will.
Fear is often rooted in a lack of knowledge, so by researching and reading about AI tools, we can all learn more about how it may be applicable to our own working lives.
Connor Wood, Recruitment Apprentice at IMC Locums told us how he uses AI to help generate images for social media use.
Stay Inquisitive
Apprenticeships are structured around self-study and tailoring the learning to the individual. So whilst we chatted about tools such as ChatGBP, Copy.ai, Jasper and Try Ellie, we invited apprentices to research tools themselves (the Future Tools website is a great place to start) and report back their findings.
In the same way that the advent of washing machines reduced time spent on chores, thus giving us more leisure time, using AI tools to improve our productivity or time management may allow us more time for strategic thinking.
As tutors, Teo and I also laboured the point that AI should never be relied upon for producing assignments. ChatGPT may give you a starting point, if your creativity is stifled on a Monday morning, but always rewrite it in your own words and check your sources.
We have ways of finding out if you cheated!
Author, Sally Walters, Marketing Tutor.
