How to become a corporate Jedi in the age of generative AI

If you are a Star Wars fan, you probably look up to the Jedi, the protectors of peace and justice in the galaxy. In the modern workplace, the Jedi's counterparts are the leaders, the visionaries, the thinkers, the doers, the ones who drive a corporation forward. They have unique talents and abilities that distinguish them from others. Just like Jedi mastering the Force, these workplace Jedi need a lot of dedication, discipline, hard work and talent to excel at their profession.

But what if you could become a corporate Jedi without years of training and practice? What if you could instantly boost your productivity, creativity, and innovation by asking generative AI for help? This is not a fantasy, but the reality of the future of work.

As is commonly known, generative AI can now write high-quality reports, create business presentations, design graphics, produce podcasts, or make videos faster, easier, and better than humans. It can also help personalise marketing campaigns, recommend products, generate content, or customise learning programmes based on user data and feedback. Furthermore, it can foster creativity and innovation by offering new ideas, insights, and solutions. Working alongside humans, generative AI can help produce original concepts, designs, prototypes, or strategies that can spark human creativity and problem-solving.

We are living in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, but it is different from what we expected. The rapid development of technologies such as AI, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and quantum computing is creating a new era of innovation and disruption that transcends the traditional notion of industrial revolutions. This era is not only transforming the nature and quality of products and services, but also expanding the capabilities and opportunities of human knowledge workers who use generative AI tools.

Having a Light Saber does not make you a Master Jedi. You still need to learn how to use it skilfully. Likewise, using generative AI does not make you an instant star at work. You need to learn how to harness its "Force" with smart and powerful prompts, and how to take advantage of some of the generative AI tools that are available in the market. For instance, OpenAI launched its GPT store in early January 2024, which is a platform for AI apps built on top of ChatGPT technology. There are already over 3 million GPT-powered apps in the store. You can find a generative AI app for almost anything you can imagine, and many of these apps can enhance office productivity.

So, how do you prepare yourself for the future of work where everyone is a corporate superhero with superpowers? This reminds me of the Hulu show Extraordinary, which is about Jen, a 25-year-old woman who lives in a world where everyone but her has a superpower. She tries to discover her own power with the help of her friends. In a workplace where everyone has super generative AI powers, the future work skills you will need to stand out from others will be different from the traditional professional skills that generative AI can easily perform.

The World Economic Forum has conducted a study and identified the top 10 skills that would be most important by 2025. Out of these top 10 skills, generative AI can only do or assist with three of them, such as designing and programming technology, reasoning and solving problems, and creating new content. Humans are still much better than generative AI at skills such as: creativity and innovation, self-directed learning, complex problem solving, critical thinking and analysis, leadership and social influence, technology management and adaptation, and resilience and flexibility.

In other words, to prepare for the future workplace with generative AI, we need to improve ourselves in areas that generative AI is not yet good at — skills that are uniquely human. These include empathy, communication, and creativity. Therefore, we should network more, improve our listening and speaking skills, learn how to convince others of our ideas, and master critical thinking and problem solving through critical questioning.

Generative AI is an amazing technology, but it also comes with serious risks and challenges, as it can generate information that may be false, misleading, or harmful, which can affect users and society negatively. Furthermore, generative AI can enable cybercriminals, such as scammers, hackers, and fraudsters, to launch more complex and convincing attacks, such as identity theft, phishing, or ransomware, that can take advantage of the trust and vulnerability of their targets. Fraudsters may also use generative AI for political purposes. For example, in January 2024, we saw deepfake videos of US President Joe Biden declaring a military draft, and deepfake audios of him discouraging voters in New Hampshire from voting in the Democratic primary. In February 2024, a multinational corporation's Hong Kong branch lost HK$200 million after fraudsters orchestrated a video conference call where an employee was deceived by deepfake versions of the company's CFO and other participants. In this way, generative AI can turn these online villains into powerful enemies, like the Sith Lords in the Star Wars universe, who use the dark side of the Force for evil ends.

The future of work with AI will bring new opportunities and challenges for companies, but also new threats and risks from cybercriminals who use generative AI tools. To protect ourselves from these new threats, companies need to invest in stronger and more reliable security systems and fraud detection mechanisms that also use generative AI to spot and stop such attacks. Moreover, employees need to be more alert and aware of the possible signs and sources of fraud, and follow the best practices and guidelines for online security and privacy. Users should verify, protect, respect, and educate themselves and others when using or encountering generative AI, and follow the ethical and responsible principles.

The future of work is here, and it is full of possibilities and opportunities. With generative AI as your partner, you can become a corporate Jedi and make a positive difference in the world.

May the Force of generative AI be with you!