Many people believe that AI might eventually take over our jobs. But is this really true? Can AI do everything as well as humans can?

This week, I was asked a question that's been trending lately: "Is AI going to take over our Product Management jobs?"

There's no denying the fact that AI is getting smarter every day. But just because it's happening, doesn't mean you should be scared. In fact, I think it's an opportunity for us PMs to get even better at what we do.

What do we mean by AI?

AI is a broad term, but it can be defined as the ability of a machine to learn and apply that knowledge to new situations.

That definition covers many different types of machines, like self-driving cars or automated investment advisors. Another way to look at AI is not as a single technology but rather as a collection of technologies: deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, etc. There are many ways you could apply these technologies in your workplace—for example, Amazon uses NLP for its product recommendations; Google Assistant uses voice recognition to answer questions and perform searches, and self-driving cars use computer vision to detect other vehicles on the road and navigate traffic lights.

But let's focus on how AI will affect product managers specifically.

How much of a threat is AI to our industry?

It’s important to note that AI will not take over our jobs.

There are still many things that computers can’t do, and we have the advantage of creativity, empathy and intuition. We will continue to play a vital role in creating products and services that people love.

However, it is clear that AI poses a threat to PMs' work by helping us complete some tasks more quickly than before. The good news is that there are also opportunities for us to improve our skills because of it!

AI will help automate more mundane tasks so we have time for more creative ones: for example, we can use AI to generate ideas for new products and services or do the initial research required to identify customer needs. These are two things that were previously difficult for PMs because they required a lot of time and effort.

How can we stay relevant as PMs when AI continues to get better at what we do?

AI is not a replacement for human intelligence. It’s true that AI can be used to help PMs do their jobs better, but it isn’t going to replace our product management positions. In fact, I think most of the time we will be working alongside AI rather than competing with it.

Here are some examples of how you can use AI to make better decisions:

• Use machine learning algorithms to predict what your users will like next based on historical data
• Create a chatbot that answers common questions from customers and colleagues about your product or company
• Use a predictive analytics tool to estimate how likely an idea is to succeed based on historical data.

You should not be scared. We'll still be needed

We're not going to be replaced. AI will help us do our jobs better, and its role in the world of Product Management is going to be more about collaboration and support than anything else.

AI will not take over the world (again).

AI will not take over the world, but it will change how we think about it. As humans, we have always looked to technology as a means of making our lives better—and it has. However, there has also been a dark side to this development that we are only now starting to see: the impact of automation on jobs and communities across the globe.

Conclusion

Hey, don’t be scared of AI. We still have a role to play in the product management industry and we’re not going anywhere soon. AI has huge potential but with the right tools and techniques, you can still outsmart it. As long as humans are involved in the process, we will always be needed as PMs.

Plot twist 😱

Until this section, this newsletter was generated entirely by AI.

• I used DallE for the photo
• I used CopyAi for the copy —the title, the subtitle, the sections, and the complete text.
• I used Supermeme for the meme

I prepared a Loom video (Writing a blog post under 5min using AI) to demonstrate the process of generating a post with AI, though the outcomes vary from attempt to attempt, and for this one, it took me longer as I reiterated quite a lot to get sections I was happy with. The AI does an excellent job of sounding human; the only issue is that it does not mimic my "tone of voice." It would be preferable if I could feed him my previous blog entries so that he could sound more like me.

Previously, I employed AI technologies to assist in article creation:

• I used quillbot since English is not my native language and it helps me sound more "English."
• Grammarly helped me enhance my writing (although the free version is not that great)
• I rely heavily on DeepL translator for the Spanish version of this newsletter.

However, several human inputs and alterations were still required for all of the described tools: editing quillbot proposals, disregarding Grammarly dumb suggestions, and re-writing the entire text for the Spanish email but utilizing DeepL as a starting point.

When I look at what AI can accomplish right now, I am stunned - from writing code to producing photos of kittens surfing in the Maldives, the possibilities are limitless. I'm still new to the topic and haven't used it to its best potential, but I'll keep an eye on how this affects the Tech Industry and our Product Manager jobs.

Now, I am curious to know if you suspected the post to be written by a computer at some point 😜 Let me know in the comments.

The story was originally published on substack.