In today's digital-dependent world, it can sometimes feel like AI is taking over.
If we're being honest, it kind of is.
Today, the worlds of marketing, customer service, and ecommerce have forever been transformed by the advances in AI language models. Because of the technology, industries like finance, legal services, and education are changing even while you read this. Modern AI performs advanced calculations, constructs detailed step-by-step guides, and crafts comprehensive essays at the click of a "generate" button. As technology advances even further, there is no denying that AI will likely become a mainstay in our lives and professions.
This new reality is a little scary.
Those folks with trepidation about the mass adoption of AI tools into existing industries aren't wrong to have concerns. There are many significant ethical issues we all need to carefully consider before deploying AI into our homes and businesses.
First off, there's the problem of bias and fairness. The vast historical data AI draws from often contains problematic, improperly-contextualized data points. The lack of real-time monitoring and oversight means that there is a chance an AI language model will generate an answer with a biased, even exclusionary, response. This can lead to unfair outcomes when it comes to hiring or lending decisions, which already discriminate along several different demographic lines.
There is also the issue of privacy and data security. AI gobbles up tons of real public information, including personal data. Early users convinced AI chatbots to reveal the personal info of their designers. This raises enormous red flags about what safety protocols exist to keep our private data safe from snooping and misuse, and increases awareness regarding the importance of cybersecurity.
One of the most unsettling effects of the rise of AI is the mass displacement of jobs. We've witnessed some companies swapping out human writers and editors with AI systems to cut down on costs, triggering concerns about the future of employment and survivability. The American social system isn't primed to accommodate a mass exodus of humans from the workforce being replaced by AI counterparts.
Moreover, while AI-generated content can be impressive, it can also sometimes create flawed or confusing results. Digital wordsmiths like ChatGPT follow syntax amazingly well, but they often churn out work riddled with contextual errors, making it abundantly clear that the touch of a human editor is still indispensable.
Our current challenge lies in striking a balance between the efficiency of AI and the irreplaceable touch of human oversight. How can we utilize the time-saving technology of the day while also maintaining a high level of quality and preserving a genuine human voice?
Communicating with AI to create letters, reports, articles, and other content can feel intimidating. But the truth is, it's more similar to talking to your buddies or colleagues than you might think.
(Granted, your work bestie might recall less information about the season migration patterns of crab populations than ChatGPT.)
How Improv Can Help
Some of the best lessons on communicating with other people (or AI) can be learned through improv.
Improv, the art of creating a scene on the spot in front of an audience, is a popular way to boost your communication skills. Instead of sticking to a script or working towards a predetermined ending, improvisation requires creating entertainment on the fly, using nothing but your own creativity and interplay with others.
The principles of effective communication stand front and center in improv. While ignoring lousy communication habits (our own or a coworker's) in the workplace can be easy, an improv comedy scene is a much different situation. Performers are exposed and vulnerable. They craft without the safety net of a script. Skills like active listening, empathy, adaptability, and effectively using words and body language are critical. Engaging in improv not only hones your communication skills, but also sharpens your awareness, boosts emotional intelligence, and amps up your confidence for handling unexpected situations, which, let's face it, happens quite a bit in life.
In this article, I will look at three lessons students learn in improvisation, which can be surprisingly helpful when interacting with AI.
Specificity Is Key
In improvisation, crafting scenes on the spot hinges on providing specific details and cues to your scene partner.
It's not just about being on a farm; it's about setting the stage on a particular East Texas dairy farm with all its unique sights, sounds, and smells.
These specifics are the foundational building blocks for the scene, offering both performers the inspiration to create a compelling dynamic in the moment. It's painting a vivid mental picture with words, setting the scene's mood and guiding the narrative flow.
Interestingly, this same fundamental principle applies when communicating with AI. When interacting with AI, the key is to approach your prompts with precision and clarity. AI systems draw from specific data sources; the more pointed and tailored your input, the more effectively the AI can respond. Your specific prompt acts as a stylus, guiding the AI to generate the most relevant and accurate information in response. Like improvisation, where the scene's success hinges on setting the stage with specific endowments and statements, effective AI communication depends on providing detailed and precise prompts.
For those who regularly engage with AI in their everyday lives, it becomes evident that the sweet spot in the interaction lies in achieving a harmonious collaboration between you and the AI. It's about leveraging specificity to streamline the exchange, making it feel effortless and productive. By offering clear and well-defined cues to an AI system, you enable it to understand your needs better, ultimately leading to more relevant and satisfying responses.
In this way, precision and specificity in improvisation and AI communication lead to a richer and more engaging experience, whether on the stage or in the digital realm.
Avoid Overloading AI with Complex Prompts
In improvisation, a common pitfall is the urge to unleash a torrent of scene ideas and comedic concepts in the opening lines. Unfortunately, this approach often results in a chaotic and bewildering scenario, leaving both the performers and the audience scratching their heads.
Similarly, when communicating with AI, it's crucial to exercise restraint and avoid overwhelming the system with overly complex or multifaceted prompts.
AI models function most effectively when you feed them information in digestible, bite-sized portions. Rather than inundating the system with an exhaustive laundry list of calculations or an intricate web of requests, it's advisable to work through the interaction step by step.
For instance, when generating a document, an efficient strategy involves dividing the process into manageable and focused sections, providing AI with clear and straightforward prompts. Ultimately, you can compile the data generated one step at a time and have a cohesive, manageable document. Dumping excessive information into a single prompt can lead to an inadequate response, potentially wasting your valuable time.
This principle aligns beautifully with the essence of improvisation, where scenes unfold organically, one moment at a time. Instead of frontloading a scene with every conceivable idea, improvisers allow the narrative to evolve naturally, discovering new directions and nuances with each exchange.
The same holds in the context of AI communication. By approaching AI interactions methodically, you empower the system to respond in a way that is more aligned with your specific needs, fostering a more productive and seamless exchange. In improvisation and AI communication, the journey of exploration leads to the most rewarding and insightful outcomes.
Avoid Conflicting Information
In improvisation, one of the most fundamental rules, often considered the cardinal sin, is the concept of "denial."
Denial occurs when performers within a scene contradict the reality that is being co-created, disrupting the flow and cohesion of the performance. This confuses fellow improvisers and leaves the audience disconnected from the unfolding narrative. "Denials" serve as a reminder of the importance of embracing and building upon the established scene rather than negating it.
This same principle of embracing coherence applies when interacting with AI.
When providing input to AI systems, avoiding introducing conflicting or contradictory information within the same prompt is imperative. AI systems are designed to process the information they receive and generate coherent responses, even with some ambiguity or inconsistency. However, when outright contradictions are introduced, it can lead to a misguided, misleading, or nonsensical AI response.
Consistency in your prompts ensures that AI outputs align with your goals and expectations.
Just as in improvisation, where denial disrupts the harmony of the scene, contradictory information in AI prompts can lead to results that deviate from your intended course. By maintaining a coherent and logical flow in your interactions with AI, you help the system better understand your needs and provide more relevant, accurate, and valuable responses. This way, you can achieve a smoother, more productive exchange with AI, like the seamless flow of an engaging improvisational performance.
(BONUS TIP) Humans are Irreplaceable
The most significant lesson improv can teach us is that there is no substitute for connecting with another human. Improv puts this necessity front and center on a stage in front of an audience.
But even if you aren't a performer, you likely experienced this principle over the pandemic.
Humans are social creatures and need to interact with others to be fulfilled, but more than that, humans can provide certain impossible traits for machines to achieve. Instinct, life experience, and honest perspectives are all things a computer program cannot genuinely replicate.
Business owners and leaders must value these human traits and understand the crucial collaborating processes. Melding our minds together to create a product greater than something we would have come up with on our own.
Communication in Our New Reality
Now, we've reached the point where I'm sure you're asking yourself the question… author, are YOU a robot? Have I been reading something generated from a computer program this whole time?
The answer to that is… no. I am a person, and this article's ideas, word choice, and explanations are all my own. However, an AI program DID help me plan, organize, edit, proofread, and optimize.
In today's ever-evolving digital landscape, the convergence of human interaction with AI is not merely a fleeting trend. Incorporating AI programs and language models represents a seismic shift transforming industries and our everyday lives. It's becoming increasingly evident that AI is here to stay, embedded in our personal and professional realms, helping us tackle challenges and navigate the complexities of the modern world.
But we don't need to be intimidated quite yet. We can use communication fundamentals to make sure AI tools benefit us. By borrowing principles from improvisation, such as specificity, avoiding unneeded complexity, and avoiding contradiction, we can ensure that our interactions with AI go smoothly and save us time.