With AI, your Value Is Shifting from Making to Discerning (and Asking Better!)

I am sure you also notice how the nature of work is subtly changing around us. There's a shift happening, and it's not just about new tools, but about where we create value. I am a very interested reader of Ethan Mollick’s ‘One Useful Thing’ and his Linkedin Posts. If you are not, I highly encourage that you do. It exposes you to the awe inspiring things that WILL change your work.

The current reality is already this: When research that once took weeks now takes minutes with AI, the bottleneck isn't the research anymore; it's figuring out what research to do. I use ChatGPT's, Gemini’s and Perplexity’s deep research functions a lot..often in competition with each other and it has changed the way how I ‘discern’.

Similarly, I started to code a bit to make my life easier on my Mac. And when code can be written almost instantly, the limitation isn't programming speed; it's understanding what to build.

And of course, when content can be generated almost instantly, the constraint isn't production; it's knowing what will actually matter to people. It’s understanding what’s really needed. For example, if you work in Learning & Development, the change is rapid. You can now produce any kind of self-learn training...the deciding factor is the concept around it, that it actually solves a real business problem.

In summary: the bottleneck for progress is no longer the execution, but the decision and discernment WHAT is needed and WHY. Technology is solving the ‘how’.

And this is the lightbulb moment for me in this new age: the ability to listen to your clients and stakeholders to discern the 'What' and 'Why' becomes the competitive advantage…skills that require us to listen deeply and ask powerful questions.

The most critical skills are becoming:

Discernment: The ability to ask the right questions and identify the most critical problems to solve.

Judgment: The wisdom to define what 'good' looks like and to steer projects in the most meaningful direction.

Vision: The foresight to decide what should be created in the first place.

I strongly believe that even the best current AI frontier models are not even close to replacing human ingenuity in these 3 areas above. It’s where we (humans) shine and it’s where we should build skills!

I am curious what you think, Jennifer! How do you help yourself get better at deciding and discerning in your area of work?