If You Are Told “AI Can Do What You Do For Us”…Learn, Reframe, and Fill The Gaps Humans Can Do…

Last week I had several calls with colleagues who keep hearing more and more as the quarter changes and companies…large and small…look to curtail expenses that they are being challenged to justify what they can deliver that “AI” can’t. While a challenge is worthwhile and is a learning experience for all we are in a business that is ever changing, one of nuance and relationships and one whose center…an actual heartbeat…can be augmented but not really replicated.

Those who have asked…”What do I say when someone overseeing decisions says “AI can do for us what you do””…need to take a step back for a second and think about value one brings, especially with learned experience that is not that simple to recreate. As new job titles and definitions like: Chief Automation Officer (CAO), Augmented Intelligence Orchestrator, Circular Economy Manager, Digital Reputation Defender, Digital Ethics Officer, Content Optimizer, Athlete Venture Partnerships Manager, Narrative Strategist and Executive Visibility Strategist become more commonplace, figuring out how to adjust, augument and problem solve by those who have very practical experience but may not be fully explaining their value with decisionmakers whose job is to cut costs, and in some instances, just chase the shiny new toy without a full understanding of the “what.”

First thing that is needed is education on both sides. I have often seen a rush to cut, a rush to not fully understand value or use of a new asset as a tool for growth, not as a replacement for those doing the work. There have been countless examples in the last six months…from media stories, to business decks, to personell decisions…where the use of all forms of AI were thrown into the mix without human checks and balances. The result…backtracking, editorial retractions, loss of credibility all from rushing and relying on HUMAN checks and balances.

Second, reframing instutional knowledge. We have written about this many times before, but many of the mistakes we see today by brands, teams, leagues, individuals, media companies, are because of a lack of understanding of how one arrives at a moment. Asking questions about what the industry has done in the past. what lessons we have learned and how do we use the culture of a company from the past to better understand where we are going…especially when you are using machine learning tools to drive growth…should be at a premium, not a minium.

Third, sports is a business fueled by a heartbeat more than anything. While data, business intelligence, and justifying ROI are vitally important, it is vital not to forget that this industry is literally driven by human contact. While intelligence tools can speed up answers and provide solutions to simple questions, when a consumer is upset that a transaction didn’t go right and needs a calming voice, when a deal is sealed because of a relationship, when you attend a game and “something happens” to unite emotion collectively, when an unforseen or unpredictable opportunity arises because someone “knew a guy or a women,” or overheard a conversation about a trend that no tool could have predicted or forseen, we rely on the power of the human. Maybe it is augmented, but the intangible cannot be forcasted clearly, at least not now, and in the words of the great human Wayne Gretzky, we miss the shots we don’t take. Almost as important…we miss the shots we don;t know about becuase we are not relying on people to clse the delta between the tools and the human.

People. It’s a people business augmented by all the tools we have, not vice versa.

 Things we should all infuse in those discussions…curiosity, empathy, deep listening, understanding…all qualities that are much needed for a cohesive world that seems slanted towards hate and fear and shouting and a rush to replace vs. a rush to augment.

Oh and one last thing. When you are told “AI can do that for us vs. what you do,” my last thought. Let it go. Let someone go and prove that to be true. What I have found over the years is the teachable moment comes back around more often than not becuase a loss of business intelligence, human connection and intangible growth, is literally invaluable, and the learning from missing a relationship can sometimes be even more profitable…emotionally as much as financially…when the gap is suddenly realized by decisionmakers.

Teachable moments for all as we keep growing together as humans with the help of the tools at our fingertips, not in spite of them.