Humans, What are They Good For?

"Which human characteristics remain vital and relevant [in the age of AI]?"

It's a question posed this week by Brian Charles, PhD, MBA, MS, BA, etc. in our discussion board in the MIT Sloan course I took last summer on developing an AI business strategy.

AI holds a lot of promise to improve our lives and make a lot of what we do more efficient and effective. But what can humans do that computers can't? What are the uniquely human traits that define us?

I look at the question through the lens of the work I do here at Loop, where I partner with organizations to help them bring AI into their organizations and support the growth of their brands and businesses.

We all know that we can use AI tools to help kickstart the creative process, asking ChatGPT and Bard for ideas that our designers, copywriters and strategists then turn into something special. And there are lots of other ways AI tools can improve marketing, including advertising placement and optimization, connecting with prospective clients through customized CRM communications, collecting and evaluating performance data, etc.

But ultimately clients hire Loop because I understand their industries, challenges and opportunities, and they want to know that any technology we use will be in support of helping their customers make critical, life-altering decisions more easily and successfully. In other words, they're hiring Loop for our uniquely human qualities.

Here's a list I put together for my class's message board of characteristics that AI seems unlikely to replace.

• Strategy development
• Consultation
• Relationship building/trust building
• Creativity
• Ingenuity
• Empathy
• Experience-based problem solving
• Gut instinct

To this list, I'd add one more: flexibility. I listened to a great HBR podcast recently on how AI changes creativity and was fascinated to hear the interview subject describe himself as someone who "no longer identifies as an artist". Instead, he focuses on "consultations, inspirational videos, public speaking gigs" -- all uniquely human activities.

It's this kind of flexibility that will ultimately turn the AI conversation from job-stealing to job-creating, giving humans and technology their own lanes and leading to the promise of "collaborative AI".

What uniquely human qualities would you add to my list above?