AI has a People Problem — Not a Technology Problem

So, you know, it stands out to me that you on LinkedIn and a variety of different social platforms have talked about this imposter syndrome that many feel when it comes to being a technical expert with AI and AI strategy.

What prompted that? What was it that gave you that vibe and that need to share that with the world?

I think that I am probably not the only one.

But the reason that I was so public about it was because I came from a heavy technical background.

I have a PhD in modeling and simulation.

I spent almost 20 years building video games for the government.

Modeling is essentially the baby steps of machine learning.

And I found myself in a situation.

I was working for a health insurance company doing enterprise AI.

And I was really struggling with the technology.

And I was thinking, if I'm feeling this way, this has to be more pervasive.

This can't be something that a lot of people aren't feeling.

And I think it's indicative of some of the very early training.

It was very hard to break into AI spaces initially because all of the training was so technical.

It was 100% developer focused.

And if you weren't going to be a developer, there wasn't a whole lot for you.

And so I think that that was a darker time, certainly, that a lot of people resonated with.

But I think it was at that moment that I realized that that's where the opportunity really was for me, that I didn't have to be able to code to understand the combination of technology and strategy.

You know, I'm fascinated by this imposter syndrome because I myself have a little bit of that imposter syndrome.

I'll be one of the first to say that, right? And I'm trained in some of the same spaces that you're trained in, right? My doctorate's in organizational psychology, industrial organizational psychology, which sounds like it's people-oriented, but it's data sciences, right? And I struggle even with that first layer of AI that I was dealing with.

and AI strategy, I still to this day don't feel like I've fully gotten there.

Now, I feel much better than I did a year ago or two years ago.

But it was fascinating to me to see that imposter syndrome that I was being turned to for decisions.

And in many cases, it was like, I don't know, you tell me, right? Let's figure it out.

And I wonder, what was that one experience? Where was it that you started to make that move towards feeling a little more confident?