There’s a few of us, that stand at a particular area of the bar, having a few drinks, catching up on what has been happening during the week and talking about anything and everything really.
Someone asked me, Bal… what is it that you really do? I know you’re in IT, but do you fix computers or do all that AI stuff?
That made me smile, ‘all that AI stuff’.
I asked him, what you make of AI?
He said, ‘well… I keep hearing it’s going to take over everything, it’s going to be doing things where people won’t be required to do and take over their jobs’.
Everyone nodded in agreement. They’d all heard the same narrative.
At this moment in time, I had two options. Let them know that a) yes, AI will do tasks of those who code, and other such tasks. In fact, there’s alot AI can do. It’s intelligence… or b) drop a few truths that it’s not as bad as they think.
‘So, I’m primarily responsible for developing strategies linked to priorities and goals, long term plans, PMO (Program Management Office), vendor and partner relations, governance, compliance and much more… but, if you do want your computer looking at, I’ll give it a go!’
We all chuckled. And then the topic veered onto how England were losing to Scotland in the Six Nations.
The whole area of IT is huge. From fixing someone’s computer to strategy. And I then thought that, IT isn’t just one function. It’s within functions. And that’s the part where everyone is a ‘tech person’. You can have HR Tech, Finance Tech (FinTech), etc… IT is not one standalone function it used to be. It’s advanced to product mindset and capability thinking.
And as everyone reads about what AI is doing and going to do, it’s time for everyone to learn, or at least grasp the basics, of AI. Even if it’s just using ChatGPT to help them with whichever industry they are in.
I need some low maintenance shrubs. ChatGPT helped me.
I need to sort my holiday out. Guess what. ChatGPT can help you.
Now, as I went onto my second drink (Guinness 0.0%), it’s there to help. Not to own, take over and do for you (though, that is happening in some areas with guard rails — AI Agents). All of this, got me thinking as Scotland were forgetting about their match against Italy and beating England… what is the AI narrative to the average Joe?
What I do know for now is that, we’ll continue to meet up at the pub every Saturday for a drink or two and talk about all sorts of topics. I can see the AI topic coming up again. I can see the rugby six nations topic coming up again. I can see the question, ‘what do you do in IT Bal’ topic coming up again. But that’s good! Because the more we talk, the more we understand and the more we can have a desire to learn.
Final score, Scotland 31–20.
