AI Is a High-Pass Filter
I've come across this phrasing in a Substack post by software expert Bryan Finster. Read the full article here. The concept extends far beyond software, though.
In the article, Bryan makes two observations about AI (emphasis mine):
As an individual developer, if you have strong engineering, design, workflow, and leadership skills, and solid discipline in applying them, AI amplifies them and accelerates not only your work but also how quickly you learn new things, including new ways to use AI to amplify that learning loop [...] If you don’t? AI will confidently generate plausible-looking garbage, and you won’t know the difference. The high-pass filter blocks you from seeing gains, not because you lack AI access, but because you lack the signal amplitude.
[…]
If your organization is designed to optimize the flow of value (you know, that DevOps thing) instead of maximizing utilization, AI will amplify your value delivery. You’ll ship faster, learn faster, and adapt faster. Your competitors won’t be able to keep up. If not, AI will have zero value unless you first use it to help fix the organization.
What I like about this reading: The argument is decidedly not the gloomy "use AI or get left behind". It is the more nuanced "get your fundamentals solid so you don't get left behind".
This has always been true. At both the individual and the organizational level, a wide chasm exists between top performers and the average. The gap is there already; AI just widens it faster.
A welcome corollary of this observation: Don't waste your time fixing the way you or your team uses AI. Invest that time in fixing the fundamentals, and the AI will slot naturally and painlessly into the process, no expensive AI SLDC certification required.
And it extends beyond software, too. AI on top of broken workflows and dysfunctional organizations, no matter what industry they're in, will have zero positive effect (hence the many failed AI initiatives). Again, get your fundamentals in order and you'll be able to spot the places where AI can make a contribution. Or ignore your fundamentals and join the many enterprises that report no gains from AI.
