The Real Impact of Generative AI: Beyond the Hype

The Unchanging Core: What and Why

At the heart of any business or individual endeavour, there are three core principles: what you do, why you do it, and how you do it. Generative AI, despite its powerful capabilities, only affects the latter.

Imagine a company that provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. What they do remains providing software solutions. Why they do it revolves around delivering value to customers and generating revenue. These principles stay constant, regardless of whether they adopt AI or not.

Even when a SaaS startup pivots to incorporate AI, they are still fundamentally offering a software service. Their why remains the same: creating value and driving profit. The AI component merely tweaks how they deliver their service. Perhaps it speeds up processes, enhances user experience, or provides more insightful data analytics. But at its core, the business model—what they do and why—remains unchanged.

AI: The Transformer of the “How”

So, where does AI fit in? It’s in the how. AI can make processes faster, more efficient, and sometimes even open up new capabilities. It’s a tool, a very sophisticated one, that changes how tasks are accomplished.

Consider a large service organisation. Its what could be delivering consultancy or IT support, and its why is to benefit clients and generate profit. Now, how they execute these services can evolve with AI. They might use AI for better data analysis, customer interaction, or service optimisation. The how can be dramatically improved, making the service more efficient and potentially more impactful. But the fundamental essence of the business—what they do and why they do it—remains anchored.

The Personal Perspective: Applying AI to Your Own Life

This principle isn’t just for businesses; it’s personal too. Suppose you’re someone who’s integrated AI into your workflow. You’re still doing the same job (the what), for the same reasons (the why). What’s changed is your approach (the how). AI might help you manage your tasks better, give you insights faster, or automate routine processes, but your job and motivations are still the same.

Here’s a personal example. I recently integrated a generative AI tool into my daily routine to help with scheduling. Before AI, I was manually juggling my calendar, a tedious task that often resulted in double-bookings and missed meetings. Now, AI handles the heavy lifting, optimising my schedule and ensuring no conflicts. The what—managing my time—remains unchanged. The why—to stay organised and productive—is also the same. But the how—the actual process of scheduling—has been streamlined significantly thanks to AI. It’s a small shift that makes a big difference in efficiency, but it doesn’t change the core of what I do or why I do it.

A Tale from the Trenches

Let me share another anecdote from a client I recently consulted with. They’re a mid-sized marketing agency that adopted AI tools for campaign analysis. Before AI, their team spent hours poring over spreadsheets, trying to glean insights from data. Now, AI does that in minutes, providing them with actionable insights that are both faster and often more accurate. The what—analysing marketing data—hasn’t changed, and neither has the why—to create effective campaigns for their clients. But the how—the process of analysing data—has been revolutionised by AI. This has freed up their team to focus on more creative and strategic aspects of their campaigns, enhancing their overall productivity without altering their core mission.

The Misconception: AI as a Game-Changer

Many organisations are caught up in the misconception that AI will fundamentally redefine their entire existence. The reality is less about transformation and more about enhancement. AI provides new ways to achieve outcomes, offering tools to optimise and innovate how tasks are executed. But it doesn’t alter the fundamental nature of a business or personal endeavour.

A Balanced View

Understanding AI as a powerful tool rather than a transformative force that changes the essence of your work can help realign expectations and strategies. This perspective ensures that while we harness AI’s capabilities, we remain grounded in our core principles: what we do and why we do it.

In summary, generative AI is an impressive advancement that enhances how we perform tasks. It can significantly improve efficiency, decision-making, and customer engagement. But amidst the excitement, it’s crucial to remember that AI changes how we do things—not what we do or why we do it. By keeping this in mind, businesses and individuals can better navigate the integration of AI into their processes, using it to complement and enhance their core activities rather than expecting it to redefine them entirely.

This balanced approach will ensure that we make the most of AI’s potential without losing sight of our fundamental goals and motivations. So, while the tech giants and startups alike continue to push the boundaries of AI, let’s keep our focus clear: on what we do and why we do it, using AI to do it better, smarter, and faster.