The contribution This human ability is most importantly appearing in the online magazine Basic Thinking. You can start the day well every morning via our newsletter update.
Again and again it is discussed what skills still need if artificial intelligence can take on more and more tasks. In my opinion, this is the wrong approach. Because at least one ability is essential in dealing with AI.
“Artificial intelligence (AI) takes on more and more tasks, what do humans actually have to do?” – I am often asked this question as part of lectures and workshops. In fact, however, we are still far from that AI will take over more and more tasks.
Yes, it helps us more and more, but we are still a long way from autonomous action. Therefore, I consider the question of which human skills are still necessary, to be extremely relevant.
Because if the use of AI is steadily progressing as a tool, but humans continue to remain the trigger and cause, then it just continues and mainly depends on humans.
Dealing with KI: Prompting as the most important ability?
But what ability will be decisive now? Many will probably say that it depends on making correct prompts, i.e. correct and targeted requests for a AI. The required ability would then be to be able to formulate appropriate prompts. In my opinion, this is not that important, even if I always speak of it in my training and lectures.
I do not think that in the age of AI it is mainly important to formulate the “right” prompt (then you could already discuss what means “correct” in this context). Rather, it is about something else: we have got used to feeding machines and waiting for answers that we forget the actual royal discipline – namely the ability to judge.
Judgment as the ability of all skills
Judgment under uncertainty is the currency, which in my opinion does everything in the AI age. While chatt, midjourney or medical diagnostic algorithms flood us with answers, pictures and probabilities, they are not one thing: responsible for what becomes of it.
The last word – and responsibility – are with us. Anyone who cannot judge who does not recognize when a AI hallucinated, distorted or shooting past the topic becomes the driven in a world that never actually had more information, never more computing and never “smart” tools.
And yes: Prompt engineering may sound like a superpower, especially if you look at the many texts and videos of the AI influencers on social media. There it always looks as if you only have to do a little “magic” in prompting, and the AI does everything.
But hand on heart: the quality of the input is worthless if the person behind it is unable to classify the answer. It is like ordering a gourmet menu without knowing whether the burger that you then get is now guormetesses or fast food.
Dealing with AI: two more support skills
However, this judgment does not fall from heaven. It lives from two “enabling”, so -called “enablers”, without which it does not work in practice.
On the one hand, problem formulation and questionnaire is still required. AI systems are fantastic to deliver exactly what we asked-and at the same time mercilessly not to give us what we really need.
Anyone who cannot think precisely, who does not understand how to distill a clear question from a diffuse suspicion, drowns into genetic output. The question is not: “What can AI do?” The question is: “What exactly do I want to solve AI for me – and why?”
In addition, data and model mutras is still needed, new German “ai literacy”. It is not enough to know that AI does something with machine learning. If you want to survive in the AI age, you have to understand where the data comes from, what blind spots have a model, how bias arises and why a 99 percent probable result can still be wrong.
This is not a nerd niche or a domain that is quickly left to the technicians. In my opinion, this is rather survival knowledge. AI literacy therefore does not mean to train models yourself, but to understand when you can trust a model-and when not.
The most dangerous illusion of everyone
Many will now say: “But AI is getting better and better, in a few years we no longer need all of this.” That is the most dangerous illusion of everyone. The better AI becomes, the more seductive it becomes to take over your results unchecked.
This is not a future scenario, that is already a reality-from the copywriter, who blindly takes over chatt text modules in customer campaigns, about a doctor who only nods a AI diagnosis because she is correct in 95 percent of the cases (but led to catastrophes in the other, but did not appear in the AI response because it was not asked).
To lawyers, the court rulings cited by Chatgpt take over in their briefs without ever having these judgments, but they are “well listened to” and are cited in such a way that they resemble real judgments.
Conclusion: The most important ability to deal with AI
In my opinion, judgment under uncertainty is not just a competence like any other, in my opinion it is the core competence that is now needed to develop or strengthen it. It is what makes people keep relevance when everything else is automated.
AI can make us faster, more efficient, maybe even more creative – but only if we have the courage not to swallow every edition as a truth. In the age of AI there are millions of generic statements and answers. But thinking as the basis of judgment is becoming increasingly rare.
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The contribution This human ability is most importantly appeared on basic thinking when dealing with AI. Follow us too Google News and Flipboard Or subscribe to our update newsletter.
As a Tech Industry expert, I believe that the most important human ability in dealing with AI is critical thinking. In a world increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence, it is crucial for humans to be able to analyze and evaluate the information provided by AI systems. This includes questioning the accuracy of the data, understanding the limitations of AI algorithms, and interpreting the results in a meaningful way.
Critical thinking allows humans to make informed decisions, identify potential biases in AI systems, and ensure that AI is used ethically and responsibly. It also enables individuals to adapt to new technologies, think creatively, and solve complex problems that AI alone may not be able to address.
Ultimately, the ability to think critically will be essential in navigating the evolving relationship between humans and AI, ensuring that technology is used to enhance human capabilities rather than replace them.
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