Artificial Intelligence Business Technology

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI (Summary)

by Ethan Mollick

What if you could invent a new role-playing game, create a complete business plan for it, design its marketing materials, and generate its initial branding—all in under an hour? This isn't a hypothetical; it's exactly what the author did to create "Centaurs & Citadels." He demonstrates that AI isn't just a search engine on steroids; it's a tireless, creative partner that can turn a fleeting idea into a tangible project before your coffee gets cold.

Treat AI Like a Brilliant, Eager, and Slightly Alien Intern

AI is not an oracle. It's a powerful but flawed collaborator that is knowledgeable but lacks common sense and real-world context. To get the most from it, you must manage it like an intern: give it clear instructions, check its work for factual errors (hallucinations), and guide it through iteration.

An AI can write a sophisticated market analysis in seconds. However, it might invent a statistic or cite a non-existent study to support its point. You wouldn't fire an intern for this mistake; you would teach them to verify sources. The same principle of 'trust but verify' is essential for working with AI.

AI's Abilities Have a 'Jagged Frontier'

AI's capabilities are not uniform. It can perform tasks that seem incredibly complex for a human while failing at tasks that seem simple. Understanding this 'jagged frontier' is key to knowing when to deploy AI and when to rely on human skills.

ChatGPT-4 can pass the bar exam, a feat requiring immense legal knowledge and reasoning. However, the same system can struggle with a simple word problem like, 'If I have three apples and I eat two, and then my friend gives me one more, how many apples do I have?' Its inconsistency shows the unpredictable edge of its intelligence.

The 'Cyborg' Approach Beats Both Human and AI Alone

The most effective use of AI is not to replace humans but to augment their skills. Studies consistently show that human-AI teams—'cyborgs'—outperform both the most skilled humans and the most advanced AIs working by themselves.

A Boston Consulting Group study found that consultants using AI were 40% more productive on a range of creative and analytical tasks. Crucially, the lowest-performing consultants saw the biggest gains, as AI acted as a great equalizer, augmenting their skills to bring their output closer to that of the top performers.

Prompting Is the New Essential Skill

Getting great results from AI is less about technical knowledge and more about a new conversational skill: creative prompting. The best prompts are iterative and involve giving the AI a specific persona, clear context, and a well-defined goal.

Instead of a generic prompt like, 'Write a blog post about coffee,' a 'super-prompt' would be: 'Act as a world-renowned coffee expert with a witty, approachable voice. Write a 500-word blog post for beginners on how to choose their first bag of specialty coffee beans. Explain the difference between single-origin and blends using a simple analogy.'

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