The AI Revolution Is Not On Your iPhone
Apple just announced, to justified fanfare, its new AI features in its products.
And listen - it was awesome. I’m thrilled about the new features coming to my iPhone.
But here’s the thing:
Everyone's buzzing about the latest AI features from the all tech giants. Smarter assistants! Auto-generating presentations! AI in every app and every device!
And don't get me wrong - that stuff is great. I love a good AI-powered tool as much as the next person. Anything that makes my life a little easier gets a thumbs up from me.
But here's the thing: If you think this is the end game for AI...I've got news for you, friend.
You're missing the real revolution.
The Problem with AI-as-a-Feature
What's happening with a lot of these AI integrations - and we're seeing it everywhere from Apple to Microsoft to a hundred startups in between - is that they're treating AI as a feature. They're taking this incredible technology and using it to make incremental improvements to existing products and workflows.
Again, that's fantastic! I'm all for optimization. But let's not mistake it for transformation.
Because the real power of AI - the truly game-changing, world-shaking, "holy cow did that just happen" power - doesn't fit neatly into a user interface. It doesn't come with a slick logo and a catchy marketing campaign.
The real power of AI is in augmentation. And augmentation is messy. And requires us to change how we think.
But it’s worth it.
The Augmentation Advantage
When I talk about augmentation, I'm talking about using AI not just to do things better, but to do better things.
It’s not a feature built in to what you were already doing. It’s using the technology as a springboard.
That springboard should fundamentally rethink how we approach problems, how we create value, how we understand the world around us.
And that kind of augmentation doesn't happen in a pretty box. It happens in the wild, uncharted spaces between tools and platforms. It happens when we break AI out of the confines of features and let it loose on the big, hairy, complex challenges that define our times.
That's where the organizations of the future will be made. Not by having the shiniest AI features, but by having the courage and ingenuity to use AI in ways that no one has thought of before.
Your Path to AI Differentiation
So how do you become one of those organizations? How do you harness the power of augmentation to differentiate yourself in a world of AI-as-a-feature? Here's your path:
Think beyond the feature: Don’t think about AI-built-into-feature as “AI.” It’s confusing. Just be happy PowerPoint works better. Instead, think of generative AI like ChatGPT as a jetpack for your brain. Go task by task and use generative AI to help your thought process.
Embrace the mess: Augmentation is iterative, explorative, and often ambiguous. Some things will work, some things won’t. Just trust that ChatGPT can probably help you and push it until it gives you something of value.
Cultivate curiosity: The biggest breakthroughs come from the most unexpected places. Foster a culture that values exploration and experimentation. It could come from the C-suite or the mail room.
Collaborate widely: Augmentation thrives on diverse perspectives. Break down silos, engage unusual stakeholders, and invite dissent. Have folks working in small teams on unique problems, with ChatGPT as a teammate.
Focus on outcomes: Don't measure success by the sophistication of your AI, but by the impact it creates. Continually ask, "How is this creating value?" Value is everything.
Is this path easy? No. If it was, everyone would be doing it.
But is it worth it? Absolutely.
Because while AI-as-a-feature can help you keep up, AI-as-augmentation is what will let you break away. It's what will let you not just optimize the game, but redefine how it's played.
And in a world where every company is racing to boast about their AI chops, that's the real differentiator. That's the real competitive edge.
So don't get caught up in the hype of the latest AI product launch. Keep your eyes on the bigger prize.
The real AI revolution won't happen in a pretty box. It'll happen in the bold, creative, relentless pursuit of augmentation.
And that, my friends, is where you want to be.
AI NEWS OF THE WEEK
This week belongs to Apple.
Siri and ChatGPT sittin’ in a tree
Siri finally sounds human. Even just the more conversational way of speaking will be huge. But even better, when it can’t answer a question, it will call on ChatGPT to give you a better answer.
Privacy matters
The world trust Apple not just for its products but because they do a fantastic job at keeping your data private. We take it for granted. They kept up that tradition at WWDC with putting privacy front and center.
Safer image generation
Apple’s approach to image generation is safety and simplicity first. Users can create custom AI images with Image Playground and personalized emoji called "Genmoji" that can be used inline in Messages, but are limited in realism.
Generative AI Tips
If you’ve already discovered Perplexity, you’re way ahead of the game. If you haven’t, this is your alert to make sure you use it - it’s completely replaced Google search for me and its valuation is through the roof.
But even regular users only use Perplexity for search. Remember, this is also ChatGPT or Claude or whatever you set it to. I’ve taken to giving it some of the tasks I would otherwise put in ChatGPT or Claude - the fun advantage is that it can pull in sources so you know you’re getting super up to date info, and as a bonus it’ll help you find additional resources like videos that can help with your thinking, brainstorming, planning, whatever you’re doing.
