More and more I am asking myself, “If AI is becoming more capable every month, what uniquely human capabilities become more important?” Here is an example of why.

I recently recounted a conversation I had with my CoPilot App with a colleague. I told her I had asked CoPilot whether a particular methodology I had developed would work well for a client wanting a workshop facilitator to deliver a particular set of outcomes. She and I spoke in unison, “Of course it said yes!”

And that is the problem AI apps are so wanting to please. Forget hallucinations, your bigger challenge is being told what you want to hear and you falling for it! And can’t AI be convincing? A nicely polished answer citing various reference points. Very convincing. Or should I say, confirming.

It’s basic confirmation bias.  We start the conversation with a pre-conceived idea and we’re more than happy when our AI app confidently and eloquently confirms it.You can overcome this risk to a certain extent by asking your App to assess the validity of its answer. I like to ask CoPilot to give a probability that the answer is the right one, and why.

To test how vulnerable you may be to this bias, ask yourself :

• When was the last time AI changed your mind?
• Do you challenge AI to justify its answers?
• Who do you have to save you when AI agrees with you?

While AI is speeding many things up, and frequently improving our thinking and formed opinions, critical thinking and sound judgement have never been more important – something I have written about frequently this year and the reason I am running free webinars to help expose the new reality for us all in the age of AI.

My next free webinar ‘Leadership in the Age of AI: Critical Thinking, Judgement and Risk’ with leadership development specialist Michael Schlosser of Sim-X Strategy is on Friday 11 September. It will run for 45 minutes from 11am AEST and you can now register here.