Thriving in a time of AI
“I wouldn’t undersell the complexity of the human mind just yet,” remarked Jeremy Kobus, professor of creative business leadership, SCAD Atlanta, during his workshop “Skills You’ll Need to Survive the Rise of Artificial Intelligence.” Kobus geared his hour-long interactive talk, delivered via Zoom, toward students intent on “creating value in an increasingly automated world.”
“I don’t think AI is going to lead to a dystopic future. I think it’s going to enhance and solve major problems we’re facing today, like climate change.” Befitting a soft machine synthesizing swirling parfaits of information, Kobus spoke from an expansive, engaging range of knowledge. In his fifth year as a SCAD professor, Kobus is a student favorite, shown in the diversity of those who chose to attend his workshop, including majors in advertising, graphic design, UX design, industrial design, film and television, architecture, sequential art, and luxury and fashion management.
A former professional StarCraft player (“I was a bit of a nerd growing up”), Kobus began with basic definitions (“Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence by machines”), before pointing out that AI already lives in smart phones (“Just ask Siri”) that induce compulsive scrolling (“Tik Tok doesn’t say it’s a social media company, it claims it’s an AI company”). He connected uses for AI from gaming to cyberwarfare, and pointed out that AlphaGo beating the world’s number one Go player only heightened China’s attention to AI’s potential.
Kobus encouraged students to throw questions and comments into the Zoom chat. This led to discussions of the feasibility of Neuralink and new applications of the Turing Test. “Don’t think you’re ultra-special simply because you can create art,” Kobus said. “AI is making psychedelic art without human intervention through Google’s DeepDream project right now.”
Humor was not beyond the workshop’s domain, though the professor seemed dead serious when he stared directly at the camera to address our AI overlords: “Where’s my flying car? I don’t have my flying car yet!”
As a takeaway, Kobus listed skills he believes students will need to thrive in an age of AI.
- Complex problem solving. “Be able to create unique solutions because you have an understanding of multiple fields. If you get your degree in animation, have knowledge in philosophy, in science, in business, in technology. Don’t think about your life as a silo. Your goal is to have multiple buckets of knowledge and understand how they interact.”
- Critical thinking. “Know how to gather facts as a route to making sound judgements.”
- Leadership. “Being a leader is one thing I believe AI will never be able to replicate. That means developing your emotional intelligence, and know how to manage people.”
- Hobbies. “The most innovative people have a lot of hobbies. If you don’t like it, move on. Pick up a cello today, meet new people tomorrow, plant crops the day after that.”
- Traveling. “That doesn’t mean you need to take an extravagant trip to the other side of the world. It can mean cycling across your city into a new neighborhood.”
- Reading. “I recommend two books: Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark, and AI Superpowers by Kai-Fu Lee.”
Learn more about creative business leadership at SCAD.
By Peter Relic
