The Puffy Pope, AI, and You…

The Pope is taking on AI.

You know, Pope Francis. He’s the hip head of the Catholic Church.

Last year, he hit the streets in a white puffer jacket (how hip is that?!?)…

…or did he?

Turns out the Puffy Pope photos were AI-generated fakes.

Not real. But real concerning for those, like the Pope and me, who wonder about AI’s impact on humanity.

Later today, Francis will be the first Pope ever to address the Group of Seven (G7) summit in southern Italy.

Word is he’ll talk about AI and the threats it poses.

Should be interesting.

I love AI. And I hate it.

I remember when those Puffy Pope photos appeared. I was fooled at first. This Pope has positioned himself as modern and forward-looking. The fashion choice surprised me, but I didn’t dismiss it instantly as AI-BS.

Fool me once.

Here’s where it get’s complicated…

I’ll be fooled again…

…and again and again and again and again and again and again and…

Shame on me? Or is this something else?

And let’s set aside, for a moment, deep-fakers who use AI to fool and defraud us.

Let’s consider what it means when ANY OF US can use the robot to speak for us, write for us, stand-in for us.

If everyone has an easy-button to dress in any puffy coat they imagine (or the robot imagines) or spit out whatever communication the algorithm says will work…

…what sets us apart from one another?

How do you stand out?

How do you show up as unquestionably human?

How do you become the human to hire in your niche?

Those are BIG questions that you have to answer.

Part of it begins with how well you understand your prospects and clients and how well you train your robots to understand. Robots seem smart, but they’re not.

You can control the frameworks they use to create content. You control what information they access to build their outputs. You define the context they use. You test the outputs and check the facts to make sure the robots get it right.

Those who get that (and do that) will have a leg up on those who don’t.