Maximizing Human Potential with AI

A question many are asking is "How do we ensure AI is a net benefit to humanity?" I am a believer in human potential and the value of human experience. This is rooted in my faith in God who provides this potential for His glory and provides the path to optimal human experiences. Others may simply seek a sense of goodness or security. Regardless of whether you share my view, there are some human concepts to consider for navigating in the emerging age of AI. We hear much talk about the threat of diminishing value of human potential and experience these days. As Proxigee Services considers the opportunities that AI and ML create, we have a foundational value that human potential and experience should be enhanced and not diminished.

We Are At Choice

Almost 10 years ago, I was introduced to a framework that I believe serves well as we wrestle with the role of AI. It is called The Empowerment Dynamic and was developed by the late David Emerald Womeldorff. I will not do it justice here but at its core is a concept that we are all always sitting at a moment of choice. The choice is to inhabit an environment of drama, victimhood, loneliness or to inhabit an environment of creation, empowerment, and togetherness. As we entertain, develop, and deploy AI use cases, I am so excited about our opportunities to be more creative and empowered together.

Seek First and Fear Not

Ancient wisdom also provides guidance for us in the writings of the Bible. Jesus famously said, "Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well." Whether you chose to view this as literature or as the underpinning of faith, God's kingdom represents the greatest creative force in the universe that values loving one's neighbor (even enemy). Those AI initiatives seeking this will truly maximize human potential.

The phase "fear not" appears at least 365 times in the books of the Bible. This highlights our human tendency to worry and fear…a lot. When choosing creation, empowerment and togetherness with God, there is no need to fear the outcomes of AI. There are a host of other things that many will pursue with AI that will lead to the drama triangle much like the self-serving people in ancient Babel who became confused and stopped building their Tower. Our choice is to not fear and seek creative empowerment together.

Opportunity 1: Back to Basics

In the spirit of the discussion above, we have an opportunity to explore AI use cases that bring the human experience back to some fundamentals. How is it that we have more technology and connections than anyone ever before, yet in aggregate spend less time together and have fewer meaningful connections? When putting AI to work, a good place to start would be to remove some of the impediments to our relationships and face-to-face interactions. In our current state, how is it possible that we have all this technology but are still likely working more on weekends and no longer have time for that Sunday family dinner that grandma once hosted? Employers that help their employees reclaim their personal time will attract top talent. Employees that protect personal time will be more productive.

Opportunity 2: Strength Finder

What do your employees do best? We recently worked with a recruiting organization to develop solutions that maximized time spent interacting with the candidates. There are a lot of supporting activities involved in making these interactions occur and many of them are not why the recruiters get out of bed in the morning. Opportunities to support recruiters with technology have made their days focused on high value activity that they enjoy, expedited the overall process, increased the number of candidates, reduced the effort chasing non-responsive applicants, and much more. This is a simple example of AI that maximizes employee potential helping the current team do more and be more engaged in their work.

Opportunity 3: Serve Others

AI use cases that directly serve the needs of other people, especially those with basic needs, will increase human potential. Profit and cost reduction will likely be added to you as well in these cases. Improving disaster response, ensuring efficiency in the best food supplies, and supporting the competitiveness of local businesses are examples of how much opportunity we have to help each other with these solutions versus fearing our replacement. This is the way forward to new ways in which people will work. Innovations in our history demonstrate that somethings will be replaced but that new opportunities are created simultaneously.

The Choice Is Ours

As we stand at the intersection of human potential and artificial intelligence, we have a profound choice to make. Will we use AI to enhance our humanity, strengthen our relationships, and serve others better? Or will we allow it to diminish our connections and reduce our authentic experiences?

At Proxigee, we're committed to the former. We believe that when AI is deployed thoughtfully, with human flourishing as the primary goal, it becomes a powerful tool for maximizing potential rather than replacing it. The future of AI is not about choosing between human or machine. It is about creating synergies that elevate both.