Al I

Almost every conversation now is only ever a few minutes from discussing AI, and it’s clear that there are huge variations in opinions, and in inverse correlation, the understanding of what it is, or what it could do.

One of my worst traits, that I tried to turn into a strength, is asking dumb questions. It’s fantastic to have now, in my hand, a willing interlocutor who doesn’t seem to get bored, or cross. Daft questions, clarifications, or even ‘what ifs’…

I was very lucky, around 20 years ago, to be joined by a super-human intelligence, Dr Alex Gray, who, well before Grok or ChatGPT were dreams in someone’s mind, would fulfil that role… The wonderful thing about Alex, like ChatGPT, is that he has read more than I have, understands more of what he has read, remembers more of it, and is happy to share. So, like AI, Alex would make me smarter just by being there.

Like the best of the recent AI, however, Alex contributed even more in his approach to ‘what if’ questions. Key here is an intelligence and education broad enough to take a ‘stupid’ question, see that it might not be so stupid, and then build from it. So, a perhaps random question, such as this, would get a build, or a helpful response that contributed to ideation.

The best ideation is not just one idea built out, but one that is built, improved, iterated - the best thing ever is when the answers come with their own ‘what ifs’, their own ideas, some humour and deep insight. So, Alex, or ‘Al I’ was my best ‘ally’ (excuse the terrible joke) in positioning, and strategy development. And, like Grok, Alex would happily go with me through 8, 9, 10 ideas - I hope sometimes enjoying the pique to his curiosity - being curious with a smart ally is way more productive than trying to satisfy your own curiosity.

I was delighted to see that Grok has a sense of humour - it’s a critical edge to interaction, and makes ideation way more fun. I’ve enjoyed almost every second of my time with Alex, creating some of the best positionings of these past 20 years - and that Alex algorithm has led to us hiring and developing many more team members with those same characteristics. True intelligence is to listen to a question, and to build on it - straight ‘Google-like’ answers are useful, but not enough if you want to build.

I’m excited for the next 20 years, with Alex, and every new iteration of generative AI…