On Not Being Redundant
What happens when you learn that you are redundant and that AI can do all that you have done and does it better, faster and cheaper? Time to pivot. Where, how and when does one add value? Fortunately, us humanoids still need connection. It is hard to meet an AI for coffee and conversation (yet), although I was told there is a bar in New York City where you can take your AI on a date.
A new tool has been developed that incorporated many of the concepts that I have used in my economic development consulting work. It has automated and created a community profile complete with layoff notices, Gross Local Domestic Product, target industry/company lead generation, creates Future Scenarios using STEEP framework, compares county socio economics, and much more all in real time, updated though data sources including xAI social media feeds.
One thing I have learned over the years is that it is one thing to have access and to analyze data, it is another thing to know what it means and how to apply it to decision making. However, there is now a new round of Agents that have reasoning capability and can make decisions, so the time is not far off when your Agent will be working with my Agent.
What role does the economic developer play when the data is available at the click of a button? How can they influence location decisions when they are not even part of the loop?
Here is where it becomes important to remember what AI is. It is a predictive analytical engine that “guesses” the next word in a series based on statistics (based on historical information, the nature of data). It can use a STEEP model to look at trends to make informed predictions on what has a high probability of happening but not yet certain. The fickle finger of fate steps in and threatens the model with the black swan events. But then, even Black Swans (highly unlikely but still possible) can be anticipated.
Meanwhile, AI continues to get “smarter” and more capable. A recent YouTube video teaches us how to create an automated stock trading system using Claude, a brokerage account, and insider trading information by congress members.
AI goes to war with Palantir, an AI platform used by the Military to aggregate data into actionable decision making. A recent bombing in Iran that killed 180 schoolgirls by mistake was based on old data, according to our Depart of War. Drones and robots using AI along with cyber-attacks are likely to fight the current and future wars.
While it is easy to go dystopian in the world of AI, it is important to remember economic development happens locally. We can create the future we prefer through the decisions we collectively make today. In the end, it is still up to us.