Welcome to Leadership in the Line of Fire with your host, Brad Howell. Join Brad as he dives into the heat of leadership challenges where the flames of business uncertainty meet the hard earned lessons of firefighting Embrace change, master agility and become the trusted leader guiding your team through the smoke. Get ready to ignite your leadership journey. Welcome back to Leadership in the Line of Fire. Today I want to ask a question that's starting to challenge leaders everywhere. Is AI becoming better than experience? AI can now analyze information faster than any human, generate strategies in seconds, and give younger workers access to knowledge that took me decades to learn. So what happens when someone with two years of experience and AI compete with someone who spent 20 years learning the hard way? But before you answer, I'd like to think about maybe the fire ground when the wind shifts, smoke changes and pressure hits. Who do you trust more, the technology or the experienced firefighter has seen it before. Today we're talking about AI versus experience and which one actually wins. I've been using AI pretty well consistently since 2020, and my business is actually helping people use it in the workplace. I train people to use AI. So I hang around on the cutting edge of this topic and that tends to give me a bit of a unique insight into how AI is impacting on the workplace and on leaders. And you'll find that I've written many articles, some of which you'll see on LinkedIn if you follow me there. There's lots of things affecting us when it comes to AI, and we know that AI is playing a role in every day, everything we use, whether it's you using Microsoft work in the workplace, whether it's using Microsoft Word in the workplace, which has Copilot built in to using ChatGPT or Claude or one of the many other AI tools that are going to be showing up on your desktop and they're going to appear in more than one way and they're going to start to appear in all sorts of areas of your life, especially if you're leading. And it doesn't matter whether you're leading on the fire ground in business or any situation, those tools are going to start to become more obvious. So what are some of the things that I'm seeing people talk about when it comes to AI? Well, let's go through a few of them. First of all, AI will make years of industry experience far less valuable because information is no longer hard to access. Well, it's true in some ways, yes, information is much easier to access, but it's been like that since the 1990s. I mean, when I first started using computers back in 1980, when you turn the computer off, the data went away. As we moved in the databases and we started storing information came to our fingertips pretty quickly. It didn't need AI, you just had access to the answers. And then the Internet came along and it became even easier to actually access information. So I don't think that AI has changed that greatly in any way. Some information is easier access, some information isn't. And that hasn't changed either. Just because AI has been trained on a large data set doesn't mean it's been trained on a specific data set, such as leadership or firefighting or whatever your business is. It can answer a lot of generic questions, but whether it can apply it to the situation you're in, well, that's a whole nother kettle of fish. One of the things I've noticed is that you can ask AI a question and then ask it again and it will second guess itself and change its answer, which of course we do as humans ourselves. But when you're relying on AI to make a decision and then it changes its mind, well, in some situations that could be extremely dangerous. Certainly on a fire ground I would consider that dangerous because I need someone to be sure of their decision before they put their answer forward. The other thing is that AI, when it comes to accuracy is not all that crash hot. Again, it comes back to that generic training data that it's had. Yes, it's been trained on lots of stuff, but not specific stuff. Now that will change over time as people train up specific AIs for specific applications. But that's not going to happen overnight. That's going to take a very long time, realistically, given the number of specialized areas within any business or any emergency service. The other thing is, what about the currency of the information? Just because that was current there doesn't mean it's current now. For example, on a fire, I can have everything going one way and then the wind will change and it changes all the parameters instantly. As the person on the ground, I know exactly what's going to happen when the wind changes. If I'm waiting for an AI to ask a question, to give me the answer, well, yes, I probably get the answer I need if it's got the right information. But someone's got to put that information in for it to make that decision. As a human, we are processing that data instantly on the fire ground. And it's the same in any business situation. You're constantly taking input. So as things change Your mind has already processed a range of different options that you can apply to that situation. So while I think AI is a tool to help us as leaders, I just don't think it is the answer to everything. Number two, leaders who refuse to use AI will become slower, less competitive and eventually unemployable. Well, I think that's true in some areas. I think there's no place for people to be Luddites to refuse to use technology. It's just a stupid point of view. There is always gains to be had using technology, but it's using technology in the right way and choosing which technology is the best to apply to the situation. Where you see this in the workplace is you might have to use a particular tool to do a particular job and then someone comes along with some other tool to do the same job. Now, it might be easier and quicker to use the new tool, but for example, you've got to go, you've got to set it up, you've got to move the job over to where that tool is, et cetera. It takes so much longer than it would have just to use the spanner you already had or whatever the situation is. And I've seen this tons and tons of times where people say, oh, we could do it this way. And I'm like, yes, we could. But by the time we organize that, we could have done it this way. Yes, it's a bit harder, yes, it'll take a bit more manual work. With any sort of technology like AI, you've got to work out whether it's worthwhile. Now, over time it will evolve like we do and it may become more worthwhile. And that's why as a leader, you've got to be open to these things. You got to at least try them or give them one of your team and say, hey, give this a whirl and see what happens. But you can't always switch to the latest technology because it might not be right for you. And that is really true. It depends on your industry. So some industries lend themselves to technical solutions. For example a bank. Everything in there is computerized, except for the face to face interaction with customers. Some of that interaction could be computerized using AI, like on a telephone system for answering calls and answering common questions. But if we take the situation, we've got a plumber. AI is not going to help a plumber dig for a pipe, except for maybe to locate it, but the physical labor of digging the pipe, cleaning the pipe out, replacing the pipe, whatever it is, that's going to have to be done by a human for a very long time, I suspect. So again, it depends on the industry and the availability of the tools. Some industries, AI has been quite pushed into them really fast and as leaders we have to uptake it or be left behind. So my industry is in training and speaking and helping people achieve good results online. And so for me, AI is a huge part of what I do. I need to be aware of AI, I need to be able to apply it because my clients are using it in their marketing and I need to be able to help them get better results. So in my industry, the availability AI is everywhere. But in other industries there's not much. And I must say, certainly in firefighting, I've not seen any very good examples, let alone any average examples of it being used yet. I'm sure people are using it. Actually. No, I stand corrected. I thought of one and that is where we're using AI to detect fires from towers. So setting up cameras and having AI recognize it or from satellite in space, that's definitely one area where it is working. And I think that's a great use of it because those cameras can run 24, 7 and nighttime, daytime, whatever. And it is a good, I suppose, replacement of humans because I think humans can be used in other areas better. Many experienced leaders are already being exposed to AI. Many experienced leaders are already being exposed because AI can now do their technical work faster and cheaper. Well, yes, okay, but is it doing their work or are you just handing it over to AI to do? For example, do you check results? One of the things I'm noticing is that people are using AI to produce more and more content. And you will hear the term AI slope. There's a reason for that. Because so much of the content's being produced, but no one's actually looking at it and going, is this good content? Does this actually reflect what we do? Does it sound like me? Is it actually saying something useful? So we get this slop and it becomes quite obvious in email answering and all things like that. So while a leader can be exposed as not doing their job really well by AI, by other people who are working faster and implementing it in their business or in their job situation, I don't necessarily think that's a great thing. Sometimes it's being used to replace busy work like writing emails, for example. But in many cases the slop that's coming out isn't helpful and it doesn't make you look like a better leader. Just because you're producing more content, you're getting more output, it doesn't mean that you're being a good leader. Sometimes one exceptional piece of writing is far better than a hundred bad ones. And that applies in every situation. In my experience, in many fields, AI is being applied to decision making, but realistically, it's actually just giving opinions. So that also brings us back to that hallucinations element, where you can ask it something, it will give you an answer. In other words, it will solve your problem. But then you say, but what about this? And it will change its answer entirely. The amount of data sitting inside your head that helps you as a leader make a decision is phenomenal. You cannot input that into an AI effectively. To give you an example, sit down at, say, ChatGPT and ask it a question about a specific topic and then get an answer. And then open a new chat and this time press the record button and speak about that topic for a couple of minutes, giving it all the information that you know, and then ask it for an answer. And I guarantee you will get an entirely different answer. Because when you type in information, you type in the very basic. Because it takes a lot of time when you speak. You can speak 120 words a minute or more and give it a lot more information. So therefore, the actual information it's using to make the decision is vastly different. And that's true of every situation. Okay? What you're actually giving doesn't have already. So it needs to be able to collect that data inside your head. As a leader, you are always collecting the data. You've always got it in there. There's always more involved in a decision than just the question you ask AI, so be very aware of that. Okay? I don't think experienced leaders are necessarily being exposed by AI. I think they're being exposed by their own processes. And sometimes, as I said before, quality over quantity is more important. Future promotions may go to people who adapt quickly with AI, not the people who have been around the longest. I think this has always been true. We've always seen people who have greater knowledge moving through the ranks more quickly. In many organizations, you'll see people move from new person to manager of an area just because they're better at talking to people or just because they've got a degree or whatever it might be. There's always been those reasons. This is it. This is not new. Okay? Good leaders move with the times. If you don't want to be left behind, then go out and apply AI in your leadership. Now, how you apply that, totally up to you. But you need to make sure that you're learning. As I've always said, leaders need to be learning as much as their people need to be learning. You need to have some understanding of AI and how it can help you as a leader, not just hand it to your people and say, okay, you're the AI specialist. You don't have to know everything, but you have to know enough to actually be able to apply your vision to it, to see how it can help people, to take in the information from others who are using it all the time, saying, this is good, this is bad, this is the result. This is what we're seeing. All those little pieces of data that you take in help you move forward as a leader, but also to lead your team properly as AI comes into any situation. Last but not least, human experience is still critical in chaos and crisis, because AI cannot truly feel pressure, fear, instinct, or human emotion. That is so true. Okay, human experience is hard to beat. Yes, over time, AI is going to become more powerful and it's going to have a much larger range of knowledge. But on the other hand, data centers are only going to be able to get so big. I know that we have the principle that as things grow, you know, I know there is a whole range of principles at play here, such as as things get bigger, they get faster, or et cetera, et cetera. But understand that it's going to take a long time before we actually can handle the amount of processing power we would need to do what a human brain does. Because the way that the brain interacts with itself, how it's connected and how it can think, AI doesn't actually work like that. AI is just a series of pieces of information that are accessed to give you an answer. Frameworks, styles, background information, data points, all that sort of stuff. The connection between those and being able to synthesize them is where the human brain still seems to have a pretty good advantage. And not to mention that the amount of information held in a computer does not compare to the amount of information held inside a computer human brain at this time. The biggest problem I actually see when it comes to dealing with issues under pressure when it comes to AI is the hallucinations, the fake information, the fake answers, the fact that it will just give you an answer, and it really will. It'll give you the answer you want to hear sometimes, especially if you're using ChatGPT, I found. On the other hand, it will give you an answer rather than say, I need more information now. Some AI tools are getting better that way. They're actually asking for information upfront before they give you an answer. But some don't. And so it's really just relying on the information it has. It's not really collecting the what's happening now in that situation in front of you to make the decision. And that's a big issue. And the fact that it can change its mind instantly is so annoying, you can't rely on it. A leader has to be able to make a decision and stand by that decision until there was enough other information to change. Whereas AI will change in an instant, just bang. The minute you ask it again, straight away, it will have changed. The other thing is that inputs change rapidly. One of the things I've noticed is as a leader, and certainly on the fire ground, the amount of input that I get is always changing. And there is loads and loads of it. When you're dealing with an AI, unless it has a way of collecting all that information, it can't make a decision. And the biggest problem we have at the moment is that AI only has the information basically inside its database, otherwise it has to search the web or it has to go to another source to get that. Now, you can imagine that if you're dealing with, say, weather, weather stations aren't necessarily pushing out the information every second, it might be every minute. So everything is delayed. If it's getting the information that's being delayed, there may be connectivity errors, there may be problems accessing the information. All those things affect how good AI is in a crisis. The other thing it can't do is it can't feel the room. As a human, you're standing there with a team and you're able to feel what's going on in that room. You can feel the stress, you can feel the fear, you can feel the confidence. All those elements are right there in front of you when you look in people's eyes. So you can make much better, better decisions and pick the right people to do the job based on what you're actually feeling in the room. Can I ask you a question? If I gave you a tablet and on it was connected an AI, and I told you that you had to follow every decision from that AI, would you be able to. I'm pretty sure that in your head you're saying no right now, because I know I wouldn't and I know no leader would. But the time will come. Somewhere down the track, someone will do that. They'll give you a tablet or a link for your phone and it will tell you you need to follow the information coming through on that phone. That blind following will be very difficult. Now, I know some military units, for example, are taking information from a long way away where someone will be sitting looking at a satellite saying turn left. There's people coming from the right because they can see a satellite image. That's okay, Okay, I get that. But that's not the same as an AI saying turn left rather than turn right. I think that will happen, but it's going to take a long time before we come up to that. I get that AI is going to take over many parts of our lives, just like computers and the Internet already have. And there's no question it will become part of leadership, business, emergency services, and everyday decision making. But there's still going to be moments where systems fail, communications break down, or the data just simply isn't there. AI is only as good as the information it can access. And unless it has every sensor, every camera, and every piece of context in real time, it still will have limits. One day we'll live in a world where science fiction like AI calmly tells people exactly how what to do during a disaster and everybody will trust it completely. But I think we're a long way from that. Trust takes generations. Right now, AI can still hallucinate on the simplest of tasks, confidently giving wrong answers, and even will change its mind if you challenge it. So while AI will absolutely become a powerful tool for leaders, I still believe the human leader is far superior when pressure hits, conditions change or lives are on the line. So until next time, have a think about that and think about how it applies in your life. If today's episode hit home, take 60 seconds to share it with a friend you trust. These conversations matter and if you haven't already, subscribe so you don't miss the next one. Got more real world leadership tips coming your way. And if you want to go deeper into fireground leadership lessons to apply in your business, get Grab a free copy of my book Run towards The Flames from Amazon.com it's packed with stories and strategies from over 20 years, fighting fires in the Australian bush and leading a successful marketing business. Until next time, stay sharp, stay safe, and keep running towards the flames. Thank you for tuning in to Leadership in the Line of Fire. If today's episode sparked some insights, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Colleagues, don't forget to hit like and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Your support fuels this journey. Join us next time as we continue to explore leadership lessons from the fire line. Until then, keep leading with courage and agility.