There are two reasons I believe you should be thinking deeply about artificial intelligence:
1. “From the creation of the first mobile phone, it took 16 years before 100 million people were using them. The journey for Instagram to 100 million users was a time span of 2 1/2 years. ChatGPT, a generative AI tool, reached the 100 million user mark in just two months.” (Fonteva Report)
2. “COVID is going to look like a minor inconvenience compared to what’s coming.” (Belinda Moore, addressing AI)
It’s hard to imagine COVID being a “minor inconvenience” compared to AI. Both appear to be here to stay, in varying degrees. The question is, “Are you going to fight AI, or are you going to embrace it?” Frankly, I don’t think associations have a choice. AI is changing your members’ work, giving you an opportunity to provide needed education, guidance and possibly lobbying. And it should be changing your work by creating efficiencies, identifying opportunities, assisting in brainstorming, creating new content, and helping with member recruitment and retention.
If you’re still unsure about AI or how to use it, my friends at Sidecar offer excellent support through their AI Learning Hub and the Sidecar Sync Podcast. They also produce the digitalNow conference, scheduled for October 27-30, 2024, in Washington, DC. I’ll be there (and hope to see you, too!). And author and AI expert Amith Nagarajan offers a complimentary copy of Ascend: Unlocking the Power of AI for Associations. Together, these offerings equip any and all association professionals for what’s ahead—whether you’re just getting started or are regularly using AI.
Regardless of what you learn about AI and when you choose to learn it, there are two things I believe are true: you won’t be able to remain relevant professionally without learning how to use it, and your association won’t remain relevant unless you’re teaching your members to do the same.