A few days ago, I saw a LinkedIn post about how AI could be used in the context of foresight and future studies, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this part:
A plausible future for futures studies reduces the focus on the mechanical construction of scenarios, while the entire foresight process undergoes a qualitative upgrade.
The idea that we can outsource part of the work to AI and focus instead on where we add the most value is now a common one, across many industries.
Now, I have no formal background in futures studies or strategic foresight, so bear with me here.
Let’s step outside that field for a moment and, just for the sake of the thought experiment, use “reading” and “writing” as examples.
Imagine you could ask your favorite AI to summarize a very long article or book, and that it can generate, in seconds, the exact same abstract you would have written yourself, had you taken the time to read the piece.
Let’s apply the same logic to writing. Imagine you had access to an AI that knows you so well, you can jot down your rough ideas and it produces the exact article you had in mind.
Word for word what you would have written, if you’d taken the time to actually write it.
I think the real question for the years ahead is this: Should you?
Again, in this thought experiment, the outcome is identical. Word for word. Insight for insight.
Should we do it?
The reason I keep thinking about this Linkedin post is this part of the phrase:
Mechanical construction of scenarios.
I’m not trained in this field, so I don’t know exactly what scenario construction entails in terms of intellectual effort or time. But the choice of words opens up the conversation.
Is there, just like in any factory, a part of our intellectual work (as knowledge workers) that is equivalent to something purely “mechanical”?
Returning to our “word for word, insight for insight” question, my answer is… no.
The result may be the same, but you won’t be.
Because the time, the effort, the friction that come with reading, writing, and thinking… the process itself is shaping you.
You come out the other side a different person. Better equipped for what comes next. The effort and friction actively shape you and how you will tackle your next challenge. The things you’ll pay attention to, the questions you will ask, everything is impacted by the process itself.