Navigate 2023 keynote: Human intelligence is the real key to AI

This year has thrown a mixed bag at almost every industry. Rising inflation and interest rates have tapped the brakes in many sectors, making both individuals and businesses tighten their belts. The challenge has been clear: do more with less.

Enter ChatGPT and generative AI—a bright spot many of us are keen to explore. These tools offer fresh avenues to tackle problems and serve our customers better. Yet, it’s not solely about the tech. Pluralsight CEO Aaron Skonnard drove this point home in his opening keynote at Navigate 2023: the real game changer is human intelligence.

There is an AI skills gap which limits adoption of new technologies

Ultimately, AI is not going to use itself, Aaron said. It’s got to be used by people, and those people need to know how to use it.

“Artificial intelligence, like any technology, still relies on human intelligence,” he said. “So if you want to get the most out of AI, you need people with the skills to leverage that technology and who have the other skills you need important to your business. It's those people will understand the benefits that AI can bring to their functions, and ultimately unlock them for your organization."

According to Pluralsight research, Aaron said 81% of technologists feel confident they can integrate AI into their roles, but only 12% have significant experience working with AI. 

"While we’re all scrambling to capitalize on the opportunities of artificial intelligence, it’s that human intelligence that will be the foundation for the outcomes we’re all dreaming of. It’s human intelligence that will use AI to differentiate your organization, drive the real use cases of today, and uncover the transformative business applications of tomorrow.”

Almost half of developers are fearful, not excited, about AI

According to Aaron, the acceleration of generative AI has awakened fresh fears among technologists of AI replacing people, and this needs to be addressed head-on by leaders.

“Forbes found that 77% of people are concerned that AI could bring about job losses in the imminent future. And among developers specifically, we found that 45% of developers exhibit worry, anxiety, and fear about whether they could succeed in this era of rapid generative AI adoption with their current skill sets.”

“Your people need to understand how they fit in your plans alongside AI to prevent them from losing morale or from taking their talent elsewhere out of fear.”

Meanwhile, on the business side of things, there is a different fear — not leveraging AI before everyone else does.

“Organizations everywhere are exploring how to leverage AI to reap all of its benefits, from automating processes and cutting costs to innovating new customer experiences,” he said. “There’s also a sense of urgency for all of us: how do we use AI to stay competitive before someone else beats us to the punch?”

Pluralsight is working on new AI content and tools

According to Aaron, Pluralsight’s goals around generative AI were “twofold”: giving teams the skills they need to reach business goals, and using AI to improve the Pluralsight learning experience. So, how does this translate in practice? 

“You’ll continue to see AI content on our platform straight from the experts who know it best. We currently have over 500 courses on AI, machine learning, and data science with a new course on GenAI launching almost every other day. These courses cover everything from prompt engineering to data science to integrating AI with cloud services, and more.”

Aaron also said Pluralsight was “deep in R&D” creating improvements to the platform to leverage AI, from “giving your learners sandboxes to practice their AI skills in a risk-free way, to using AI to hyper-personalize your teams’ learning experiences based on the outcomes you need.”

Conclusion: How can you unlock human intelligence at your organization?

In the end, Aaron said your organization’s plans should be about making your staff feel strengthened — not threatened — by AI, and giving them the tools to achieve proper literacy.

“Consider how you can unlock the full potential of human intelligence at your organization. Consider how you can embrace your people even more and empower them with AI,” he said. “Better solutions, better customer experiences, and better teams will come from better learning and better insights.”

“Give your people the skills they need for the projects that will drive your organization into today’s new frontiers—and enable you to adapt to whatever comes down the road.”

Getting your organization started with AI and ML

If you're keen to explore what Pluralsight has to offer in terms of AI, our platform offers a wide range of beginner, intermediate, and advanced AI and ML courses to empower you and your teams. You can sign up for a 10-day free trial with no commitments. We also offer professional and enterprise plans, as well as analytics tools for helping ensure your company's upskilling efforts are successful, driving value well beyond just learning about ChatGPT. Contact us today to learn more.

Pluralsight Navigate 2023: Catch up on what you missed

Didn’t get a chance to attend Navigate, or just looking to dig in further? Be sure to check out our recaps of day one, two and three. And while you wait for the full event to release on demand, check out the sessions from last year’s Navigate.