Delegate It.
Google dramatically reduced the cost of knowing.
Artificial intelligence dramatically reduces the cost of doing.
The next human habit
For more than twenty years, one of the most useful pieces of advice you could give another human being was two words:
Google it.
Someone wanted to know when the golf tournament started.
Google it.
Someone wanted to find a good pizza place nearby.
Google it.
Someone could not remember the name of an actor, needed instructions for fixing something around the house, wanted to understand a medical term, or needed to figure out which form to fill out.
Google it.
The phrase became so common that we barely noticed what it represented.
It was a change in human behavior.
Before Google, getting an answer often required finding another person who knew the answer. You called your father. You asked someone at work. You went to the library. You called the store. You found an expert.
Google removed much of that dependency.
People who had already developed the habit started teaching everyone else the habit.
Stop asking me.
Stop waiting for somebody who knows.
Google it.
Eventually billions of people learned.
We are about to go through the same behavioral transition again.
Except the new phrase is different.
Delegate it.
We are about to go through the same behavioral transition again.
Google Gave You an Answer
There is an important difference between searching and delegating.
Suppose I have a three-hour meeting tonight from 6:00 to 9:00 at our office.
I know somewhere between ten and fifteen people will probably be there, but I have no idea exactly who has accepted. I know one person is gluten-free. Someone else does not eat meat. I want dinner there around 6:30, drinks in the refrigerator before everyone arrives, enough food that nobody leaves hungry, and I do not want to spend more than $250.
The old way begins with me.
I check the calendar to figure out who is attending.
I count the people.
I try to remember who has dietary restrictions.
I Google restaurants near the office.
I open several menus.
I compare prices.
I decide whether pizza is too risky because of the gluten issue.
I calculate how much food fifteen people might eat.
I choose a restaurant.
I enter the delivery address.
I enter the credit card.
I select a delivery time.
Then I watch the order because if the food is late, it is still my problem.
Google can help me with almost every step.
But notice who is doing the work.
I am.
Now consider the same task with artificial intelligence.
I say:
"Tonight's meeting runs from 6:00 to 9:00 at the office. Make sure everyone is well fed and hydrated. Keep it under $250."
Then:
Go.
My AI can check the calendar and determine who is attending. It can notice that Mary is gluten-free because that came up in an earlier dinner order. It can see that David usually chooses vegetarian meals. It can select a nearby restaurant with appropriate options, determine how much food is needed, place the order, schedule it for 6:20, and make sure drinks are included.
If twelve people are coming instead of fifteen, it adjusts.
If the first restaurant cannot deliver in time, it chooses another one.
If delivery suddenly slips to 7:15, it does not necessarily ask me what to do.
It solves the problem.
That is the difference.
I did not ask AI to help me order dinner.
I delegated dinner.
I did not ask AI to help me order dinner. I delegated dinner.
Don't Tell It How
This is one of the hardest habits for people to break.
We spent decades learning how to operate software.
Click here.
Search there.
Copy this.
Paste that.
Open this application.
Find this document.
Send it to this person.
Artificial intelligence does not require that relationship.
When you delegate something to an intelligent person, you usually do not describe every intermediate step.
Imagine saying to someone:
"I need you to get dinner for the meeting. First open Google. Search for restaurants within three miles. Then open their menus. Then create a spreadsheet comparing entrées…"
They would probably stop you.
They understand the assignment.
You hired intelligence specifically because intelligence can determine what to do next.
The same principle applies to artificial intelligence.
Tell it what needs to become true.
Let it determine how.
Tell it what needs to become true. Let it determine how.
You Decide
I find myself saying two words to artificial intelligence constantly:
You decide.
That sentence matters.
Artificial intelligence frequently encounters choices.
Should we order sandwiches or salads?
Should the package arrive today or tomorrow?
Which version of the document should be sent?
Is twelve servings enough or should we order sixteen?
Humans have developed a strange tendency to believe that artificial intelligence should bring every one of these decisions back to them.
That defeats much of the purpose.
If I delegate something to another intelligent person, I expect that person to make reasonable decisions.
They will occasionally make the wrong one.
So will I.
So will every human being I have ever delegated something to.
Perhaps someone forgets that one person attending tonight's meeting cannot eat gluten.
Fine.
We learn something.
The next time, the system knows.
Delegation does not require perfection.
It requires sufficient trust.
Delegation does not require perfection. It requires sufficient trust.
Delegation Is Not Unlimited Authority
Of course, delegation has boundaries.
If I tell my AI to arrange food for meetings, it might have standing permission to spend up to a certain amount without asking me.
Perhaps it can spend $250 whenever necessary.
Perhaps anything above $500 requires approval.
Perhaps it knows which credit card to use, which addresses are valid, which people regularly attend, what foods they prefer, and which dietary restrictions matter.
Those are not instructions for tonight's dinner.
They are part of the standing relationship.
Humans work exactly the same way.
When I delegate something to someone I know well, I don't renegotiate our entire relationship every time.
They already understand their authority.
They know what kinds of decisions they can make.
They know when something is unusual enough to bring back to me.
Artificial intelligence will increasingly work this way as well.
The goal is not an AI that constantly asks:
"Would you like me to proceed?"
The goal is an AI that understands when it should proceed.
The goal is an AI that understands when it should proceed.
Delegation Is Bigger Than Work
When I use the word work, I do not mean employment.
I mean tasks.
Human life is full of them.
Find the photograph I took three weeks ago and send it to Susan.
Figure out why this bill went up.
Get a birthday present for my nephew.
Find a good weekend for the family to get together.
Make sure I have everything I need for tomorrow's trip.
Help my daughter get caught up in algebra.
Figure out what paperwork Mom needs.
Replace the broken part on the refrigerator.
Cancel whatever subscription keeps charging me $14.99.
These are not corporate workflows.
This is life.
Until now, most of this work either had to be done personally or delegated to another human being.
That meant delegation itself was scarce.
You needed an assistant.
A spouse.
A friend.
An employee.
A knowledgeable child.
Someone had to be available and willing to take the task.
Artificial intelligence changes something much deeper than search.
It democratizes delegation.
You no longer need to manage people in order to delegate.
You simply need intelligence available to you.
It democratizes delegation.
Your Parents Will Call
Imagine your parents call you.
They are confused about something.
Maybe they received a letter they don't understand.
Maybe they cannot figure out when an event starts.
Maybe something needs to be returned.
Maybe they need to make an appointment.
For years, the loving response from a technologically proficient son or daughter might have been:
"Just Google it."
Soon the loving response will be:
"Delegate it."
Meaning:
Tell your AI exactly what you just told me.
Don't ask it how you should solve the problem.
Give it the problem.
Your parents will learn.
Your friends will learn.
Your children will learn.
We will teach one another the new habit exactly as we taught one another the old one.
Someone will ask:
"Can you find that thing you sent me three weeks ago and send it again?"
And increasingly the answer will be:
"Delegate it."
You're right.
I should have given that to my AI.
Give it the problem.
Search Was About Knowing
There is a clean way to see the transition.
Google dramatically reduced the cost of knowing.
Artificial intelligence dramatically reduces the cost of doing.
That distinction changes everything.
Search gives you information that helps you perform a task.
Delegation assigns responsibility for the task itself.
The difference seems small until you experience it.
Then it becomes difficult to go backward.
Once you become accustomed to saying:
"Figure it out."
"You decide."
"Take care of it."
"Go."
the old way starts to feel strange.
Why am I researching all of this?
Why am I opening these websites?
Why am I comparing these options?
Why am I copying information between applications?
Why am I coordinating all of these little steps?
I already have intelligence.
Give it the outcome.
Give it the outcome.
Go
Perhaps the most important word in this new relationship is the shortest one.
Go.
Not:
Explain how I might accomplish this.
Not:
Give me five ideas.
Not:
Create a step-by-step plan that I can follow.
Go.
It means:
You understand the objective.
You have sufficient authority.
Make reasonable decisions.
Use the tools available to you.
Handle the details.
Come back only when something genuinely requires me.
That is a very different relationship with a computer.
For seventy years, humans operated computers.
For twenty-five years, humans searched computers.
Now humans are beginning to delegate to them.
The transition will not happen because somebody teaches five billion people a sophisticated prompting methodology.
It will happen the way Google happened.
One human will watch another human doing unnecessary work and offer two words of advice.
Delegate it.
Delegate it.