The Musician, the Go Pro & the Chess Master

Three good news stories to restore your faith in AI's impact on humanity (and learning design)

Hey friends!

In the week that Computer Scientist, Roman Yampolskiy, reportedly said that there's a 99.9% chance that AI will destroy humanity, I asked the question: are there any examples of AI evolving, rather than destroying, human creativity and capability?

Thankfully, the answer seems to be yes.

Here are three true stories about how AI has elevated and evolved, rather than automated and destroyed, human creativity, problem solving & performance (plus, some reflections on what this could mean for learning designers).

Story 1: AI & the Music Man

Alex Da Kid, a renowned music producer, found himself stuck. He had a vision for a new song, "Not Easy," but something was missing. Struggling to capture the right vibe, he turned to an unlikely collaborator – IBM's Watson BEAT, an AI designed to analyse and create music.

Da Kid worked with Watson BEAT to turn emerging creative ideas into new and original sounds. By analysing a vast quantity of musical data, AI was able to uncover hidden patterns and connections between different composition which wouldn't have been possible for a human to recognise without a machine.

The result? "Not Easy" - a human + AI track that is a testament to the power of human creativity amplified by AI. Alex's vision, combined with Watson BEAT's analytical abilities, produced a best selling song that resonated with millions of listeners.

Moral of the Story: Collaboration between humans and AI can lead to new levels of creativity and groundbreaking achievements.

For learning designers, Alex Da Kid’s story reminds us of the potential of AI to behave as a collaborator in the creative parts of our process. Just as Watson BEAT helped Da Kid to break through creative blocks and generate new ideas, AI can empower learning designers to think of new and creative ways to solve problems and build products.

Imagine a world where we use AI to analyse vast datasets and uncover otherwise hidden patterns in how humans learn, enabling us to design experiences which resonate more deeply with our learners.

TLDR: AI could facilitate both a more evidence-based and a more experimental approach to learning design, where data-driven insights enable us to build bold, creative strategies which push the boundaries and impact of learning experiences as we know them right now.

Story 2: AI & the Go Pros

Go is an abstract strategy board game for two players invented in China more than 2,500 years ago. It’s believed to be the oldest board game continuously played to the present da.

For centuries, Go Grandmasters have honed their skills through years of deep practice and competition. Then came AlphaGo, an AI program developed by Google DeepMind which, according to Google, “mastered the ancient game of Go, defeated a Go world champion, and inspired a new era of AI systems.”

AlphaGo's victories over top human players sent shockwaves through the Go community. At first, there was discouragement. How could humans compete with a machine capable of calculating millions of moves per second?

But then, something unexpected happened: Go grandmasters started training with AI programs, exploring unorthodox approaches and unconventional moves.

The result? A revolution in Go. Players pushed the boundaries of the game further than ever before, developing innovative strategies that surpassed even AlphaGo's capabilities. AI still tends to beat human grandmasters, but it nonetheless continues to drive innovation and improvement in how humans think about and approach ancients challenges.

Moral of the Story: AI can be a catalyst for human development. By learning from AI's capabilities, humans can push their own potential to new heights, achieving breakthroughs that were previously unimaginable.

For learning designers, this story highlights how AI tools built for learning design could push the boundaries of the discipline further than ever before, potentially leading to innovative and previously unimagined ways to design, deliver and evaluate human learning.

TLDR: through interaction with specialised AI we can push the boundaries of learning designers, be inspired to think outside of conventional frameworks, enabling innovation and improvement in human learning design skills.

Story 3: AI & the Chess Master

Magnus Carlsen, the reigning chess champion, was known for his strategic brilliance and unwavering focus. But even the best can always improve. To refine his skills, Carlsen began using AI chess programs as training partners.

These AI programs weren't just opponents; they were relentless coaches. They simulated countless scenarios, forcing Carlsen to consider positions and strategies he'd never encountered before. He learned to anticipate unexpected moves, adapt to ever-changing situations, and plan multiple moves ahead with even greater precision.

Carlsen's dominance in the chess world continues. His success isn’t due only to his natural talent; it is fuelled by the tireless training provided by AI. The machine, once seen as a potential competitor, has became a powerful tool for human mastery.

Moral of the story: AI has the potential to be our most dedicated trainer. By leveraging AI's ability to simulate complex situations, we can refine our skills and achieve mastery in any domain, including learning design.

Just as AI programs helped Carlsen hone his craft by pushing him to develop novel strategies and scenarios, AI can help learning designers push their practice to the next level. Imagine a world where every learning designer has an AI coach, providing always-on challenges to ensure that their practice is optimised.

TLDR: AI's ability to become expert in a topic can be harnessed to improve human decision-making in learning design, allowing us to create new, more ambitious and high-impact solutions.

Take Aways

The experiences of Alex Da Kid, the Go masters, and Magnus Carlsen show that AI isn’t only a tool for automation: it can also be a catalyst for human creativity, capability, and mastery.

My view is that for learning designers and educators, these examples provide a compelling case for the benefits of integrating AI into the learning process, demonstrating the potential of AI can be a dynamic co-creator with the power to push us to be more effective than ever before.

Moral of the story: the impact that AI will have on humanity will depend ultimately on how humans use and respond to it.

Happy innovating,
Phil 👋

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