Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick.
Ethan holds a BS from Harvard University, MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and PhD in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from MIT Sloan School of Management. Today he is an Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is Co-Director of the Generative AI Labs at Wharton. Ethan is recognized as one of TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People in Artificial Intelligence.
Today Ethan is a well respected educator addressing AI’s potential specifically for education. Since the arrival of ChatGPT, consumers for the first time used an AI tools that changed their lives. Over the last two years this has caused a global change as the world is wrestling with this technology and what it means for humanity, education, our daily lives, and of course what it means for work and government.
He is actually urging everyone to engage AI as co-worker, co-teacher and coach. Wide ranging, hugely thought-provoking and optimistic, Co-Intelligence reveals the promise and power of this new era. The real view from Ethan is that AI is a co-worker and should not be not be viewed as another program. His key message is collaboration which will enhance productivity and creativity. However to be fair, he is also acknowledging we must avoid becoming over-reliance on AI.
How can AI shift our global world?
One message for readers: Expect AI improvements to arrive faster than most will be accustomed to. As such, those early LLMs will be quickly improved, with new features added at a rapid pace with noticeable improvement and features. Yet Ethan insists that humans be involved to verify the AI outputs for accuracy and misinformation. We know this today at hallucinations and bias.
He also is describing AI as only as accurate as those humans who are building and deploying these tools. So, this is where human flaws and bias will impact the output of AI.
I would recommend Working with AI by Tom Davenport which reveals how organizations have successfully deployed AI systems resulting in new value and growth.
Learn how AI will shift education and society
Of course from a professor’s view, Ethan sees a deep change to education. He actually is proposing “flipped classrooms” where students use AI at home to learn foundational concepts. The classroom inside a school should then focus upon engaging those students in focused, interactive discussions. He is also highlighting how AI can certainly enhance both teaching and learning.
Co-Intelligence discusses the very real potential risks of AI including intellectual complacency. Perhaps the strongest message is how AI will continue widening the skills gap. This falls between experts and novices yet also wealthy schools districts to underfunded metropolitan districts.
Yet Ethan is outlining the importance of the integration of AI into our public education will ensure an equally informed decisions. He does balance AI’s incredible potential as well as current limitations and lingering risks.
In conclusion, Co-Intelligence offers an engaging view of AI and a roadmap of engagements for our collective future. This book is not to be missed.