I discounted Chat GPT when it first came out a few months ago when it reported errors in my own biography including that I graduated from Michigan (Ohio State), received my doctorate at Illinois (Nebraska) and was a professor at CMU (TCU).

I came back to it recently and realized that the term “Artificial Intelligence (AI)” is not the correct description for this new technology. A better term is “Generative Intelligence (GI),”

These programs work by adding new data and information through direct interactions with humans or other data sources. When I corrected Chat GPT about its information, it politely thanked me for sharing, and updated my file.

I delved deeper into my new friend and asked how we could better help address stress and cultivate resilience in the workplace. Here are some of its responses:

1. “Enhanced Workload Management: Chat GPT has the potential to significantly impact how we manage workloads, ensuring optimal task distribution and minimizing imbalances that often result in poor performance and increased stress for employees.
2. Communication Optimization: By identifying patterns of miscommunication and highlighting potential areas of conflict, organizations can proactively address issues, foster clearer lines of communication, and strengthen team cohesion.
3. Employee Wellness Monitoring: AI/GI can monitor vital health indicators like sleep patterns, exercise routines, and focus levels. This data can be utilized to identify potential health issues, enabling organizations to implement appropriate interventions and support mechanisms.
4. Personalized Leadership and Team Effectiveness: As AI/GI continues to accumulate data and knowledge, it becomes increasingly proficient in providing personalized leadership and team effectiveness approaches. It can offer tailored strategies for enhancing collaboration, communication, and overall team performance.

I asked Chat GPT to goo a bit deeper on the idea of personalized leadership. Its response focused on self-awareness and the ability to accept feedback. The program suggested several strategies to develop these skills, including active listening, seeking specific examples when requesting feedback, expressing gratitude for input, and maintaining composure when faced with criticism.

Nothing earth-shattering new here in its response and perhaps more concerning are the privacy issues around personal health and communication patterns.  While acknowledging these and other issues surrounding this emerging technology, it is undeniable that AI/GI will have a transformative impact, akin to the advent of the Internet or the rise of social media platforms.

The genie is out of the bottle on this one and that means bad actors will get their hands on it for nefarious purposes. That is going to require even greater skills in resilience to help us learn to deal with those challenges.

Maybe, next I’ll ask Chat GPT how to keep bad folks from using this technology. I bet it tells me to make my passwords more complex.

© Richard Citrin 2023