AI Makes Us Look Good, But How Do We Prove Real Judgment?

Summary

Microsoft reports that eighty-six percent of people treat AI output as a starting point, not a final product. While AI boosts productivity, it also makes it harder to assess genuine human judgment. The new challenge is proving comprehension and decision-making skills, not just output. The core idea is that traditional portfolios, which showcase polished work, are less valuable because AI makes creation easier. Instead, we need to demonstrate the reasoning process behind the work. This involves showing what was noticed, believed, rejected, and the risks identified. The speaker proposes that 'whiteboarding' sessions, even digital ones, are the ideal way to reveal this. In such a session, one explains a real problem, drawing what they know, admitting what they don't, and articulating risks and decisions. This process, especially when challenged by another knowledgeable person, makes private judgment visible and valuable. The key elements to showcase are the situation, the decision made and rejected, the risks assessed, and the resulting change. This live reasoning and wrestling with ideas can then be preserved, for instance, in a 'talent board' entry, to provide evidence of true understanding and good judgment in the age of AI.