Human First AI: 'Exciting and Terrifying' - The Real Skill Set Shift You Need to Make
Why adding "AI skills" to your CV won't be enough.
I'm a big 'Only Fools and Horses' fan - it's my go-to for unwinding with a quick YouTube snippet. Del Boy once said that Grandad was "an out-of-work lamp-lighter waiting for gas to make a comeback" long after electricity had taken over. It's funny how people cling to familiar systems even when the world has moved on. Gas lamp lighters, telephone operators, typists, newspaper sellers - they all thought their jobs were permanent fixtures of the business world.
I'm reminded of a family friend from my teenage years. She was about five years older than me, and I was genuinely impressed when she came out of university with a first-class degree in Mathematics and landed a prestigious job as an actuary at a top insurance company. In the 1980s, that felt like reaching the intellectual pinnacle - the combination of mathematical brilliance and business acumen that commanded absolute respect.
Here's an uncomfortable question: How many actuaries will there be in five years because of AI?
The Water Cooler Delusion
Right now, in workplaces (virtual and real) across the country, conversations like this are happening:
"AI? It's no big deal - it's like when we got that new CRM system."
This casual dismissal is everywhere. I hear it from business owners, see it in LinkedIn comments, and witness it in boardrooms. The dangerous assumption that AI is just another tech upgrade we'll adapt to, like we did with Windows 10 or Office 365.
However, there's a psychological basis behind this reaction, and understanding it is crucial.
Normalcy Bias kicks in first. Humans naturally assume things will continue as they always have. Every previous tech change was manageable—email, mobile phones, cloud storage—so surely this one will be too. "We've survived system upgrades before," the thinking goes, "we'll survive AI."
Cognitive Comfort Zones come next. Comparing the unknown (AI transformation) to the known (software updates) reduces anxiety. If I can relate AI to something I've experienced, it feels manageable. It's psychologically easier to think "new CRM system" than "fundamental economic restructuring."
Workplace Social Proof reinforces the delusion. When colleagues are dismissive, it validates your dismissal. Water cooler conversations create echo chambers where group thinking drowns out individual concerns. "Everyone else seems calm about it, so it must not be that serious."
Then there's Experience-Based False Confidence. Twenty or thirty years of surviving tech changes create a dangerous certainty: "I've adapted before, I'll adapt again." But this mistakes tactical adaptation (learning new software) for strategic transformation (repositioning your entire value proposition).
Professional Identity Protection is perhaps the most potent force. Acknowledging AI's actual impact threatens our sense of professional worth. It's easier to minimise the threat than confront potential obsolescence. "My expertise took decades to build - it can't be replaced by software."
Finally, Scale Blindness prevents us from comprehending exponential change. Our brains are wired for linear thinking. A CRM system affects workflow; AI affects entire job categories. The distinction between incremental and transformational change is often obscured in familiar comparisons.
Geoffrey Hinton's "Incredible and Terrifying" Reality
In 2023, Bill Gates described AI as "exciting and terrifying." Last week, Geoffrey Hinton, often called the "Godfather of AI," appeared on the The Diary Of A CEO podcast hosted by Steven Bartlett where he described the current moment as both "incredible and terrifying." His warnings should make every knowledge worker pause.
"All mundane human intellectual labour" is under threat. Unlike previous technological revolutions, where manual jobs were under threat, it's intellectual work that will bear the brunt of change. That's why Hinton's advice to his children and grandchildren was to 'train to become a plumber'. The kind of analytical thinking that made my actuary friend so impressive in the 1980s will become a quaint notion.
Hinton's most chilling insight: "Humans using AI will replace you, but there may be many fewer humans needed." This isn't like previous technological shifts that created new jobs through displacement. This, though, is more like the Industrial Revolution - fewer humans needed overall, not just different roles.
"We still need creativity for now," Hinton adds. That "for now" should terrify anyone who thinks their creative skills are permanently safe. With super intelligence potentially arriving within 20 years, even that assumption is questionable.
The Real Skill Set Shift (Not What You Think)
Most people think the solution is straightforward:
Learn AI tools
Add "AI skills" to their CV
Get AI certification
Attend AI training courses
That approach won't be enough. It's like my actuary friend deciding to become better at calculations when calculators were invented. The fundamental skill set shift isn't about adding AI to your toolkit. It's about repositioning your entire value proposition around what humans do that AI cannot.
From Information to Transformation, AI can process information faster than any human. Your value isn't in knowing things - it's in transforming that knowledge into outcomes, insights, and strategic advantage.
From Execution to Strategy AI excels at execution. Your irreplaceable value lies in strategic thinking, complex judgment, and navigating ambiguous situations where there's no clear algorithm.
From Technical to Relational AI can analyse data, but it can't build trust, navigate office politics, or understand the unspoken dynamics that drive real business decisions.
The Marketing AI Institute Framework
Recent research from the Marketing AI Institute identified three critical areas where humans remain essential:
Trust - As AI generates everything from legal contracts to marketing campaigns, someone needs to take responsibility for what the machine produces. AI auditors, trust directors, and quality controllers become essential roles.
Integration - AI systems don't implement themselves. Businesses need people who can select the right tools, integrate them effectively, and fix problems when they arise—the strategic thinking to embed AI meaningfully within organisations.
Taste - AI can generate infinite variations, but it can't choose what's good. Human discernment, cultural context, and aesthetic judgement become the differentiators that AI cannot replicate. I wrote about this HERE.
What This Means for Your Sector
For Professional Services: Stop competing on technical knowledge - AI will know more case law, tax regulations, or compliance requirements than you ever will. Your value is in strategic counsel, relationship management, and navigating complex human situations.
For Marketing Professionals: Stop focusing on content production - AI can write, design, and optimise faster than you. Your irreplaceable value is in strategic direction, cultural insight, and authentic brand thinking that resonates with human psychology.
For Business Consultants: Stop selling information and analysis - AI can process data and identify patterns better than you. Your value is in transformation facilitation, change management, and the emotional intelligence to guide humans through complex transitions.
The Three Critical Shifts You Need to Make Now
1. Become an Expert in Problems AI Can't Solve. Focus on high-stakes, multi-layered challenges that demand human judgment, cultural sensitivity, and ethical reasoning. AI follows patterns; you solve unprecedented problems.
Practical examples: A legal advisor helping a client navigate a family business succession that involves emotional dynamics, cultural traditions, and conflicting stakeholder interests. A brand consultant advising a company through a reputation crisis where every response must balance legal, ethical, and public perception considerations. A business consultant facilitating a merger where hidden political tensions and personality clashes threaten the deal.
2. Move from Information Provider to Transformation Facilitator. AI can teach and inform. You guide, challenge, and hold people accountable through complex changes. Build results-driven relationships, not information-driven transactions.
Practical examples: Instead of providing market research reports, become the strategist who helps clients act on insights and overcome implementation barriers. Rather than teaching time management techniques, become the coach who helps executives actually change their daily habits and holds them accountable for results. Transition from explaining best practices to facilitating the challenging conversations and decisions that drive change.
3. Develop Your Strategic Decision-Making Authority. Own the complex judgments that require understanding context, reading between the lines, and navigating competing priorities. AI optimises for known variables; you excel in ambiguous situations.
Practical examples: A marketing consultant reading the cultural moment to advise whether a campaign will resonate or backfire. An HR advisor senses team dynamics and knows when to address conflict directly vs. when to let tensions resolve naturally. A financial advisor understands when deeper emotional needs drive a client's "rational" investment request and adjusts advice accordingly.
Why Most People Will Get This Wrong
The "add AI to my skill set" mentality views AI as a significant technological upgrade. It assumes the job market will remain fundamentally the same, just with new tools.
This misses the point entirely. AI isn't a tool you add to your existing role - it's a fundamental shift that requires repositioning your entire professional identity around irreplaceable human advantages.
Those who treat it like a CRM upgrade will find themselves competing with AI-enhanced humans who understand strategic positioning.
The Clarity Advantage
This is precisely why strategic clarity becomes so valuable in an AI world. Understanding your irreplaceable human advantages isn't just career advice - it's a survival strategy.
The businesses and professionals who thrive will be those who can identify their unique human value proposition and position it strategically in an AI-enhanced marketplace.
This is the second article in my Human First AI series - and part of my mission to make us 'Super Humans' - exploring what AI can do, understanding what it cannot, and how we can navigate this transformation strategically. The first examined why brands with good taste will dominate the AI era. Be sure to subscribe to this newsletter so you don't miss the next instalment.
Feeling uncertain about your competitive advantages in an AI world? The Intentional Clarity Reset I run helps business owners and professionals cut through the noise and find their unique competitive positioning in an AI-enhanced world. If you're looking to identify and amplify your irreplaceable human advantages whilst strategically implementing AI, that's precisely the kind of clarity conversation I specialise in. DM me and I'll send you a PDF with more information.
I wrote this article using Claude as my thinking partner. I use a complex prompt that helps me write each piece, including numerous tough questions and a 5-step process. DM me, and if you book The Intentional Clarity Reset with me, I'll let you have a copy.
