AI fears have crossed over into the mainstream causing lots more interest in the topic, and increasing anxiety about the negatives and downsides. I know I’ve personally had more conversations about AI risks recently with friends and family.
Mike Kaput and I covered AI safety and alignment extensively on Episode 239 of The Artificial Intelligence Show. Even for those of us who think about it daily, recent AI events have been a lot to process. It can be very abstract and overwhelming for everyone, especially when the media latches on to the most extreme possible outcomes and dangers.
I think it’s good that awareness of AI is increasing, and I believe it’s important for people to understand both the risks and the opportunities.
In the near term, my advice to professionals and leaders is to understand the AI we have and learn to apply it responsibly.
For most people, AI assistants and some basic automation agents are all you need right now.
The current models are enough to completely transform your career, company, and industry. If GPT-6 Astra and Fable 5 were the last models ever released, it would take most companies 3-5 years to fully integrate the capabilities.
You don’t need to know how to build with coding agents, and you don’t need to know how to architect and orchestrate agent swarms.
You just need to use AI as a thought partner, an assistant, an analyst, and a tool that automates some of the more mundane and repetitive work.
You do that and you transform your career and dramatically increase the value you create in your company.
At the same time, we need to continue to educate ourselves on the rapidly evolving AI model capabilities, and what the implications may be to business and society.
It’s OK to be both excited and concerned. I know I am.
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