In 1984, a coming-of-age sports drama captivated audiences with its tale of mentorship and personal growth. Ralph Macchio and very talented Pat Morita, tell the story of Daniel LaRusso, a teenager who learns karate from Mr. Miyagi to defend himself against bullies and compete in a tournament.
But what does this beloved 80s classic have to do with Artificial Intelligence? Quite a lot actually.
In the world of AI adoption, many people view this new technology as an adversary, a threat to their jobs and way of life. But what if we changed the narrative? What if, instead of seeing AI as the bully, we saw it as Daniel LaRusso – a newcomer with potential who does not really fit in, in need of guidance and training?
Welcome to the Miyagi dojo
Just as Mr. Miyagi saw potential in Daniel, we need to see the potential in AI. It’s not here to replace us, but to augment us, learning and growing under our tutelage. Here’s three lessons from the dojo for you.
Mr. Miyagi’s famous “wax on, wax off” technique seemed pointless to Daniel at first. I see a great similarity to people exploring Generative AI for the first time. Prompts return weird answers, images seem off beat and more. Practice Daniel-son!
Daniel didn’t become a karate expert overnight, but that did not mean that Sensei Miyagi went out of his way to trip up Daniel and tell him how stupid he was. Yet this is what I see all the time with AI adoption. People going out of their way trying to get AI to trip up. Why? Like Mr Miyagi we need to nurture and guide our AI to work in the way we want it to. You will be surprised how quickly it learns a roundhouse kick!
Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel that karate is as much about mental discipline as physical strength. Similarly, we need to enhance AI’s mental discipline through clear definition of AI’s role, responsibilities, and the ethical standards you expect it to uphold. Physically, Daniel learned karate through various tasks – painting fences, sanding floors, waxing cars. Use your AI for a variety of jobs like summarisation, tabulation, reasoning and more to build a well-rounded AI skills.
The Tournament of AI adoption
The All Valley Karate Tournament wasn’t just about winning; it was about Daniel proving to himself what he was capable of – getting ‘balance’ in his life. Similarly, deploying your well-trained AI isn’t about replacing human workers. It’s about showcasing how humans and AI can work together to achieve things neither could do alone.
By changing our perspective from adversarial to collaborative, we open up a world of possibilities. AI isn’t here to sweep the leg of human workers; it’s here to help us perform our crane kick of innovation.
So, the next time you’re discussing AI adoption in your organisation, channel your inner Mr. Miyagi. Approach it with wisdom, patience, and the knowledge that you’re not just training a tool – you’re mentoring the future of work.
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